


The Onigiri Story

by leghair



Category: One Piece
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Canon Universe, Falling In Love, Getting Together, Hand Jobs, I would really like to avoid comments pigeonholing gay characters into shallow roles, M/M, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Rough Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Voyeurism, also I hate that I have to mention this but, and major spoilers for everything before it, both zoro and sanji are vers but zoro bottoms a lot, but you really shouldn't read this for them lmao, mostly notably luffy and nami with a bit of usopp and chopper, so if you HATE the idea of zoro bottoming and sanji topping, then either only read chapter two or please just don't read this fic, there are also other characters in this, very mild spoilers for WCI
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 18:05:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18696598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leghair/pseuds/leghair
Summary: It had been bad enough trapped on a boat with Zoro, body and face and voice sending Sanji's imagination racing, bitter-knowing he was straight as his swords and half as sharp. So Sanji ignored the attraction. Maybe allowed himself a greedy little peek now and then, but he never let it become a problem. He never let it become anything. He'd known that's how things were going to stay and he was fine with it, he had been dealing with it, this wasn't his fault.It's not like he'd ever wanted Zoro to know.A canonverse getting-together fic with lots of porn, some plot, and plenty of feelings, following the progression of their relationship and the canon events that impact it. A couple of common zosan tropes get flipped, there's a smidge of angst for good measure, but overall a happy ending. Complete for now but TBC post-Wano's conclusion.





	1. East Blue

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've written in a long time and I'm pretty nervous about sharing it!  
> I was writing/planning this story while I reread OP from the start, so canon events were fresh in my memory. As a result, this fic takes place "in between" story arcs. Rereading it I felt like maybe it skimped a bit on the non-romantic aspects of developing their relationship, but that's because I feel their relationship is already well defined and developed within canon - this is just adding to that. It's supplementary material!  
> Chapters are linear, starting just before Skypiea and ending just before WCI, but I would not consider any chapter spoiler-free.
> 
> It's been so long since I started the first draft of this story I can barely remember, but I believe this was my motivation:  
> I wanted to subvert two recurring themes I saw in zosan fic; first, that Zoro was aware of his sexuality and crushing on Sanji while Sanji was unaware/in denial, and second, that Sanji would be the one to initiate a deeper/romantic relationship with Zoro. I don't necessarily disagree with either of those ideas. In fact I pretty much agree that Sanji is closeted, while Zoro knows he's gay, and that Sanji is more romantic. But somehow in the process of challenging myself to write something different, this became the context through which I view their relationship.
> 
> Thank you very much to my wonderful anonymous beta readers! You gave me the confidence to write and publish this and the polish to make it its best.
> 
> To reiterate the notes I made in the tags, Sanji and Zoro are both vers but Zoro bottoms more often. If you are fundamentally opposed to the idea of Zoro bottoming or Sanji topping, then please just only read chapter 2, if you read this fic at all.  
> Also notice for in-character use of mild ableist language ("dumbass", etc).

　　　Sanji, man of threes, had three loves.  
　　　First, he loved food. Naturally. He was a chef, and he knew how hunger felt when it ate at your bones.  
　　　Second, he loved women. They were beautiful, free, and untamed, like the sea.  
　　　And third, he loved men.

　　　He tucked that one a little closer to his chest. Growing up in the set-jaw machismo of the Baratie had taught him as much. Following the sound walloping of one offended (ex) dish pig, Zeff had made things simple - one, he and Sanji were never, ever going to discuss this “hobby”, because two, it wasn’t anyone’s business but Sanji's to know.

　　　So it hadn't come up since he became a Straw Hat. Why would it? Two of three loves were met by their ship’s well-stocked galley, beautiful navigator, and elegant archaeologist, so without any outlet the third love was moot. Besides, Sanji’s only options were a loudmouthed kid, another lying loudmouthed kid, a reindeer...  
　　　And the cruellest joke God ever played.

　　　Sanji set Nami's drink before her and glanced to the bow. It was another hot day, en route to a summer island, so Zoro was shirtless again, hefting his monstrous weight over his head like a toy. Sanji let his eyes snag on the man’s broad shoulders, his round chest, bulging arms, muscles rippling with the effort his face didn't show, and as his stance pivoted into a graceful swing Sanji had to swallow. He wasn't much religious, but to bestow that waist-to-chest ratio on a straight man was proof someone up there had a sense of humour.

　　　A bead of condensation trickled across Sanji's fingers and he flinched from the glass. Nami eyed him over her newspaper.

　　　"Something wrong, Sanji?"

　　　He cursed that anything could distract from her and made a smile, twirling to deliver another glass to Robin.

　　　"Nothing at all, _mellorine_ ," He reassured with tray tucked under his arm. "The heat must be getting to me."

　　　"Must be." Nami's tone was flat while her eyes slid over to Zoro and Sanji loosened the collar he wouldn’t unbutton. He'd never mentioned anything to her, so he wasn't sure how she knew, but she knew, and he knew she knew, and he was pretty sure she knew he knew she knew. Not that it made any difference.

　　　Zoro finished his set and turned, cracking his shoulder. He barely skimmed a glance over the upper deck but still met Sanji's eye and froze, jaw clenched, and Sanji felt his own fist ball up in his pocket, the next dragging second ice-cold despite the heat until Zoro hoisted his weight again with slightly rougher form and resumed, back turned. Sanji let his fist relax and shoulders drop.

　　　"Could you offer him a drink, perhaps?" Robin's voice was soft. _Damn._ Sanji’d hoped the others might think this was just another petty grudge, but a week-long feud was too much, even for them. He set another smile.

　　　"A superb suggestion. I shall bear it in mind." He trod away from them and down the steps to the lower deck, his eyes boring into the back of Zoro's head as it ignored him. _What a baby._

　　　It had been bad enough trapped on a boat with Zoro, body and face and voice sending Sanji's imagination racing, bitter-knowing he was straight as his swords and half as sharp. So Sanji ignored the attraction. Maybe allowed himself a greedy little peek now and then, but he never let it become a problem. He never let it become anything. He'd known that's how things were going to stay and he was fine with it, _he_ had been dealing with it, this wasn't _his_ fault.

　　　It's not like he'd ever _wanted_ Zoro to know.

 

  
　　　It had been a week since they’d seen land so a week since it happened. They were at the tail end of their last adventure, saving a small coastal town from a secretly-evil marine base just in time for their log pose to set, and they'd allowed themselves one final night of celebration before they set sail. Sanji'd had his ass kicked by a gorgeous female marine captain before Nami came to his rescue and, as a result, had wanted to steer clear of women that night.

　　　He'd found the furthest bar from town, discrete and unfollowed, then found his hands grasping cropped dark hair, and lips buried in the near-stranger’s, legs straddling around his waist. The sailor had hoisted him up and into the corner with ease, to Sanji’s delight, and under shroud of cigarette smoke and lamplight they were unseen, a million miles away from the ship and completely free for a night.

　　　Sanji hadn't actually heard the glass break, but the noise from the other patrons as they whooped had been enough to pry his eyes open, swimming his gaze to the bar, before moaning back into those lips and squeezing those broad shoulders.

_Green..._

　　　The poor sailor's face got mashed away to clear Sanji’s view of Zoro, hand hung in place of the tankard he'd dropped. That second, too, had dragged so much longer, both fixed on each other wide-eyed and slack-jawed, the noise and lights around them drowned by Sanji's thumping heart. A barfly clapped Zoro on the shoulder the exact moment Sanji's sailor dropped him and Sanji'd hit the ground running.

　　　He'd heard Zoro chasing him through the streets, heart pounding in his throat, his vision swimming with panic and alcohol. He’d often wondered if he could take Zoro in a fight but never with that urgency or fear. He was drunker, but Zoro was slower, and he dashed and weaved between the lopsided houses, praying Zoro would get himself lost. Running was still his best shot. Back to the Merry, where some of the others might have already crashed. Where he might not make a scene.

　　　He hadn't stopped until he'd hit the ship, legs aching, throat burning, and after hearing Luffy's snores from the boys' cabin locked himself in the kitchen to sleep. He hadn't slept. He'd waited, fingers gripped to the counter, listening. A few hours later he'd heard Nami, Usopp and Robin stumbling across the deck, drunk and happily shushing each other. After another hour Chopper's little hooves had ambled down from the nest and back to their cabin. And when the light through the lounge windows started to lift and warm as dawn threatened to break, Sanji had finally heard the heavy, measured thud of Zoro's footsteps, tracing from the gangway and across the deck to the boys' room. Its door creaked open a crack, with a pause, then shut just as gently, and Zoro's boots continued on to stop just outside the lounge.

　　　Sanji's knuckles had turned white and he stared straight up, his body tense and pained, ready to spring. His heart had been racing. He'd hated how weak he felt again, how scared, and for a second he'd wished Zeff could come barrelling ready out of the shadows again and he hated that even more.

　　　But it hadn't come to that. The steps had scuffed back around, after brief hesitation, and plodded over to the mast, before the familiar sound of someone scaling for the nest. Then nothing. Sanji had blinked up at the lightening ceiling before letting out a long, shaky breath, furious at the wetness that was running down his cheeks and getting in his ears.

 

  
　　　They still hadn't spoken a single word.

　　　They avoided each other where possible. The few times their eyes met, like this morning, they were just reliving that moment again, that same second of confusion and surprise as if Zoro was shocked to see Sanji there. Still daring to be there. Then they tore away to busy themselves with anything.

　　　It was noticed. Nami was the most blatant, since in her infinite, beautiful wisdom she was closest to putting everything together, but even Luffy gave them a look when Sanji made no comment on Zoro's half-finished dinner. (Luffy helped finish it.)

　　　"Sanji!" Chopper's panicked little voice pulled Sanji out of his thoughts. The door to the boys’ cabin burst open and Usopp tumbled out, clutching his stomach and moaning, the reindeer close behind.

　　　"Chopper! Usopp, what's wrong?" Sanji bobbed down to their doctor's height.

　　　"My stomach," Usopp gasped, throwing his head back with another moan. "It's... it's terrible... The pains..."

　　　"Not something you ate, I hope?" Sanji straightened back up, fishing a cigarette from his pocket.

　　　"No way," Usopp quickly corrected, before doubling back over. "I think I'm... I'm..."

　　　"Severely constipated," Chopper finished. Usopp turned to stare at him.

　　　"Yes. Thank you. Chopper. I thought it could've been anything, anything at all, but alas I am severely constipated." Chopper ignored him.

　　　"He's in a bad way-" Usopp picked up groaning like he'd forgot- "so I'll need to keep him under observation for tonight."

　　　"Sounds serious." Sanji took a long drag and wondered what they were plotting. "So what do you need me to do? Juice some prunes?"

　　　"Well..."

　　　Usopp took over. "I'm supposed to do lookout tonight," He whimpered, a trembling hand reaching for Sanji. "So I... I need someone to cover for me... Could you...?"

　　　Sanji stared down at him. He ground his eyes over to Chopper, who couldn't meet them. He had no idea reindeer could sweat so much.

　　　"Lookout duty."

　　　"Uh-huh." Usopp nodded.

　　　"Tonight."

　　　"Yup."

　　　Sanji jiggled the filter between his teeth, staring holes through Usopp's eyes, but he was more seasoned than Chopper and returned a blank, steely stare. With one last clench of his jaw Sanji’s smoke hissed through his nose.

　　　"Fine."

　　　Chopper and Usopp grinned.

 

  
　　　Sanji ashed his last cigarette, adding one final mouthful to the haze filling the lounge. With everyone asleep this was the only place he could be alone to think, but he really hated exposing their kitchen to smoke. He also considered starting another pack. A half-drunk cup of coffee sat neglected next to him and he eyed it, hands dragging down his face.

　　　He wished he didn't care what Zoro thought. He wished he didn't care about him at all, that he hated him like people thought he did - like he had when they'd first met. His mouth scrunched to the side and he checked himself, taking the cup. That wasn't true. He'd never really hated the shitty swordsman, much as he could piss him off. But he'd at least been blissfully apathetic toward him as anything other than the crew’s muscle until Little Garden.

　　　When he heard the story from Nami and Vivi he'd laughed. That meat-brained moss ball actually tried to cut his own legs off? How could he be the world's greatest swordsman without _feet?_ More of the backwards logic he'd spouted when they met at the Baratie; mouthing off about his ‘great dream’, yet he was ready to die before the chance to achieve it? To Sanji, that was good as having no dream at all. Another excuse. He, in comparison, would do whatever it took to survive, while men like Zoro, who made rash decisions with no regard for their future, would die for nothing.

　　　Merry had almost reached Drum Island when it happened. They were just about to meet their doctor, but until then, and with Nami out of commission, they were left to handle their own wounds.

　　　Sanji woke by a noise he soon saw came from Zoro, blearily reckoning his shape beyond Luffy and Usopp's bodies. He was working by a single lantern, avoiding attention Sanji pieced, an ankle propped on his knee as he unwound bandages in deep red stained layers. Sanji hadn't realised how dark it was, how much there was, how readily it still flowed, and as the final layer peeled away with barely a grunt from Zoro and Sanji saw a flash of white bone he felt himself back on that selfish rock, back as that selfish child, watching men do what had to be done.

　　　Zoro was not rash. He was direct, as straight-forward and sure as his swordsmanship. He saw what he had to do, he knew what it would cost him, and he still made that choice without a moment's hesitation. And he was ready to sacrifice that dream not just for himself but two anybodies he didn't even pretend to like.

　　　Sanji loaded Zoro's plate the next morning. Nothing was said, but everything about them - their rivalry, their camaraderie, their strange and misshapen friendship - was changed. The next time Zoro baited Sanji with some empty challenge Sanji rose to meet it with a smile, and when Zoro had matched his grin and it'd shot a jolt of electricity through him he'd known something else was changed, too.

　　　Though he’d always begrudgingly acknowledged Zoro as attractive it wasn’t until this shift in opinion that he was hit by infatuation. Not love - never, not with Zoro, who made him madder than anyone bar Zeff - but he was drawn almost too strong to bear now, caught in every shift of his toned body, every quirk of his golden face, every lift of his deep, gravely voice. More than that, he cared what he thought, cared what he did, and wanted desperately for his approval, to meet the other man's expectations even remotely how Zoro met his.

　　　And that'd never happen if they couldn't even look at each other.

　　　Sanji toasted his cup to the ceiling before knocking back the dregs.

  
  
　　　Zoro was seated in the middle of the crow’s nest floor, back against the mast, curling a ridiculous weight that he dropped with a double-take when Sanji vaulted himself effortlessly over the barrier. Zoro’s mouth flapped wordlessly but Sanji stretched to his full height, hands thrust in pockets, and fixed Zoro with a look he hoped would hide how he was shaking.

　　　"Hey."

　　　Zoro clamped his mouth shut.

　　　"Hey," He offered hoarsely after a brief pause, arched brows furrowing. He angled his body away. "Need something?"

　　　"Usopp asked me to cover his night shift." Sanji gazed over the inky sea to give some respite. "He's constipated." Zoro's eyes flicked to the side.

　　　"But he asked me..." He laughed under his breath. "Dumbass asked both of us." Sanji turned back with excruciating slowness.

　　　"They did it on purpose, _dumbass_." Zoro jumped at being addressed so directly after so long and whipped back, bewildered. "They want us to stop avoiding each other." Zoro studied him for a moment, teeth gritted, mouth terse, as if weighing him up.

　　　"I'm not avoiding you." He said. Sanji simply stared, and after another moment Zoro seemed to deflate and turned away. "Whatever. You're avoiding me too." Sanji inhaled unsteadily and shifted his weight to his other leg.

　　　"Don't I have a reason to?"

　　　Zoro’s brow bent, lost as usual. "Why?" He grinned. "You scared?" He was joking. Sanji knew he was. But his breath still stalled and his jaw clenched so tightly he could hear it, his shoulders tensing to brace against the man just a few feet from him as he stared, caught, riveted to the spot. Zoro's smile fell.

　　　"... Shit." He muttered, quietly. "I... Sorry." He fixed his gaze to the nest wall, turning that over in his mind as Sanji let his breath out slowly, willing his feet to unstick from the floor. He wasn't used to Zoro showing genuine concern. In a sad way, he liked it. Zoro frowned. "So that's why you ran?"

　　　Sanji tried to shrug. "You chased me. What else would I think." Zoro opened his mouth quickly but seemed to catch himself, for his sake or Sanji’s, and let it shut again. Sanji watched him cycle through looking offended and looking worried. Neither of them were well equipped for either.

　　　"I'm not..." Zoro flexed his hand, as if willing for something tangible to grab onto but could only clench into a fist. "You don't have to be."

　　　Sanji nodded, even though Zoro wasn't looking, willing away the lump clawing at the back of his throat. He never thought he'd hear something like that from Zoro, of all people. He hadn't realised how much he'd needed to.

　　　"Then how come you're bein' so weird about it?" He muttered, trying to force a sneer into his voice and catch back some confidence. Zoro jumped.

　　　"I'm not," He sputtered defensively. Sanji raised his visible eyebrow. That was an interesting reaction.

　　　"Like shit, you're not," His finger jabbed down at Zoro and he relaxed onto his back foot. "It's like you can't even be on the same ship as me now." Zoro gritted his teeth and folded then unfolded his arms.

　　　"I'm not weird, you're weird," He mumbled, but Sanji grinned in earnest now. This spark between them, this chemistry, was a tiny little taste of the way things used to be. He wanted to chase it.

　　　"Ouch, Zoro," He droned, clutching a hand to his chest as if wounded. "I had no idea you were so closed-minded."

　　　"That's not what I-!" Zoro jerked up to his feet, his turn to point back at Sanj. "Don't be a dick, dartboard, I'm trying to be _nice_ ." Sanji made an exaggerated gesture down below the nest.

　　　"Maybe I should tell Luffy," His words dripping with insincere concern, "I think he'd want to know his first mate was causing rifts in the crew."

　　　"Oh, you gonna tell him why?" Zoro's grin replaced Sanji's as Sanji's brow twitched in a flash of anger.

　　　"You seriously blackmailing me?" He stepped forward.

　　　"You seriously think I would?" Zoro stepped forward in return. He looked pissed. Sanji was pissed too, but bursting through his chest and up his throat and through to his fingers he was _glad_ , relief hitting in a wave as they fell back into their familiar pattern.

　　　"Who knows," He growled, half-threat, half-song, smacking the back of his hand against Zoro's chest. "You were so _disgusted_ you had to shut down for a week-" Zoro loomed into Sanji's personal space, teeth gritted.

　　　"Who the fuck said I was disgusted?"

　　　Sanji blinked, a polite smile startled onto his face.

　　　"Pardon?"

　　　The second's pause seemed enough to make Zoro hear what he'd just said and he jerked his body back, mouth flat and eyes wide. They each bumped back against opposite rails. Zoro whipped around, hands clasped behind his head. Sanji's smile was fixed to his face. "Pardon?" He repeated, uselessly.

　　　Zoro exhaled in defeat, low and steady, his elbows drawing in to shield his head between his arms.

　　　"Ever since… _then_ ," He addressed the ocean, "I've been... thinking. And uh... Whenever I saw you, I'd start thinking again, and that..." He trailed off, one hand resting on his hip, the other cupping the back of his neck. Sanji swallowed. They stood there a while, this warm uneasiness stretched between them, listening to the waves lapping the hull far below.

　　　"When did you know that you...?"

　　　Sanji turned back to Zoro's head, eyes grazing over the mossy green that looked blue in the night.

　　　"That I liked guys?" He asked. Zoro nodded slowly. Sanji sighed and watched the ship's flag drift against the stars. "Truthfully?" Zoro nodded again. "Back at the Baratie... There was this guy I knew. We didn't get along. Never thought he'd be the type. But one night," Sanji let out another sigh and closed his eyes. "I'm up late, doing inventory, when I walk back out onto the floor- and bam, there he was, with another guy. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, either, and I've had these… _urges_ ever since.” He shrugged. “Once you see it, you can't help it." Zoro was craned around to stare, eyes wide and brow raised. He swallowed.

　　　"Really?"

　　　"No, dumbass," Sanji pointed at him. "That's you."

　　　Zoro stared at him, face blank as shock and anger and embarrassment all competed for nothing, Sanji meeting his eyes with resolve. The gears grinding in Zoro's head finally reached their conclusion and with an awkward, jerky uncertainty, he smiled.

　　　"You're an asshole," He laughed softly. Sanji beamed back with his usual cocksure grin, breathing a chuckle of his own, and Zoro laughed more, which made Sanji laugh harder, and soon the two of them were wheezing at each other and themselves and what they were doing, Zoro shoving Sanji's shoulder toothlessly and getting kicked half-heartedly away.

　　　"Fuck's sake," Zoro coughed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he flopped to the floor, back against the guard. "That's sadistic, even for you, love-cook."

　　　"You deserved it," Sanji tried to stop himself from grinning, slumping nearby at a respectable distance. "You had me scared shitless." Zoro's brow raised in acknowledgement, but Sanji gave himself pause as he noted Zoro's face, his hunched body, and wondered if this revelation had scared him, too. He considered if a sympathetic pat on his shoulder would be appropriate. He decided no.

　　　"You really never thought about it before?" He asked instead, jiggling his foot. Zoro shrugged and pressed his mouth to his palm with elbow propped on knee.

　　　"Maybe." He studied the wood grain. "Never really was interested in girls." Sanji nodded. He'd noticed.

　　　"Just figured you were too focused on swords." Zoro laughed.

　　　"Yeah, me too."

　　　Sanji grinned again. He and Zoro argued more often than not, but when things were quiet, they could be known to hold a normal conversation, and it was decent. He’d missed that. He rested his head back against the nest's side, breathing the cold, sea salted air, then glanced back at Zoro to find he'd been staring his way already. He held the attention for a moment.

　　　"So," Zoro started, matter-of-factly. Sanji raised an eyebrow.

　　　"So...?"

　　　Zoro angled his body ever so slightly towards him and freed his mouth from his hand.

　　　"We gonna do it?"

　　　Sanji nearly fell out the nest, collecting himself just in time to stare wildly at Zoro.

　　　"D-do...?" Sanji stammered, flicking a finger to point between them. Zoro followed it. "You mean...?" Zoro shrugged.

　　　"Whatever guys do together." Sanji blanched and Zoro started counting on his fingers. "I know about blow jobs and hand jobs. Never done them though. Anything else?"

　　　"Hold up," Sanji jutted his palm toward Zoro. "Are you really doing this? Here? Now?"

　　　"This is my chance," Zoro huffed, slapping Sanji's hand out of the way. "Who else on the ship could I do it with? You're telling me," He interrupted as Sanji's mouth dropped open to object, "That if Nami or Robin asked you the same thing, you wouldn't jump on it?" Sanji's mouth hung open a few more seconds before it clamped shut. Zoro shrugged. "Exactly. How's this different?"

　　　Sanji swallowed, staring at him, heart beating in his ears. Zoro had gone from fighting the issue to questioning his identity to fishing for a hookup in under ten minutes and really, Sanji wasn't at all surprised. Zoro didn’t dwell. He just planned his next move. Sanji straightened his back and fixed Zoro with a look.

　　　"You really think," His eyes darted along Zoro's chiselled jaw, "just because I like guys," Down, over his chest, fit round to burst, "I'd fool around," Lingering on his strong, toned arms and broad hands, "with you?"

　　　"Could've just said no," Zoro muttered, planting a hand down to get up. A leg flashed over and across in a blur of black to pen the other side of Zoro's thighs, Sanji landing to straddle across his lap a second later, leaving Zoro barely enough time to gape up at him as he gazed back down.

　　　"'Cause I would."

　　　Zoro let out a half-breath, eyes wide. A warm flush spread up his neck to tinge his ears and Sanji's mouth split into a devilish grin.

　　　"You're an asshole," Zoro grunted again and yanked him by the shirt into a kiss.

 

　　　It wasn't a good kiss. It was likely Zoro's first and he just sort of hung there, lips pursed motionlessly against Sanji's and noses bent in together - but Zoro was _kissing_ him, his unbelievable heat radiating into him, breaths ghosting and mixing over their cheeks with the smell of his hair and his skin filling his senses and Sanji was captured. He moaned, eager and desperate, months of want surging and spilling out through his mouth and fingers as his lips parted to welcome Zoro's, Zoro mirroring Sanji to lean into the kiss, exploring the softness of his lips and startling as Sanji slipped in his tongue only to return it with equal enthusiasm.

　　　Sanji untucked Zoro's shirt as he dashed the kiss across to his neck and heard a choked-back moan when he pressed his tongue deeper. Of all the places he'd thought tonight would go, none of them had Zoro under him, rough hands scrambling to detach his tie, his chest reflexing into Sanji's as Sanji's cool fingers pressed against his hot, firm stomach.

　　　"What do you want to do?" Sanji murmured, mouth around his earrings, dumbed grin at the jolt it sent through Zoro's body. A bit forward, maybe, but Zoro's hands had grasped the back of his head to drag him back to their kiss and Sanji knew he couldn't hide the heat rising in his gut forever.

　　　"Shit," Zoro muttered, heady, fingers fumbling with the buttons on Sanji's shirt. "I don't know. What'd you want from that guy?"

　　　Sanji drew a sharp breath as his neck got the same attention he'd just given Zoro's. "At the bar?" Zoro grunted an affirmative. Sanji raised an eyebrow. That was a long list. He thought about why the sailor had caught his eye, inching higher under Zoro's shirt, gripping his pecs and delighting at Zoro's grunt thrummed into his throat. The stranger had been loud, and kind of obnoxious, but also very interested in Sanji so he'd looked past it; focused instead on his trim waist, his strong, broad back, how his tousled hair tapered at the nape of his neck...

　　　"I wanted him to be you." Sanji murmured, a low, smoky hum, thumbs pressing against collarbones. Zoro stopped. Lips parting from the dip he'd found in Sanji's neck he stared, stunned eyes searching his, and Sanji smirked back down just praying he knew Zoro as well as he thought.

　　　He was launched backward onto the floor of the nest with the ping of scattering buttons after Zoro lost patience with his shirt, but forgave him (temporarily) when he moved on to Sanji’s belt, blond hair grinding into the wood while Zoro's tongue lashed at his throat. With a gasp Zoro's rough broad hand found his cock, wrapping around its half-hardness and kneading, Sanji's heels striking the wood to shoot his hips up into Zoro's grip before he swallowed any further noises, grasped a handful of green hair, and yanked his face up to his.

　　　"I wanted to fuck him," He hissed, Zoro's breath panting over pink lips and loose tongue, meeting his level gaze. This didn't have to stay a hand job. Zoro swallowed, processing, then shuffled wordlessly out of reach, Sanji's hands dropping with his stomach - but Zoro slipped his white shirt off and to the floor before leaning back on his haunches, moonlight flooding his bare chest.

　　　"What do I do?" He wet his lips with unbroken attention. Sanji held it and raised to his elbow, tracing a slender hand across Zoro's strained pants front to cup at the bulge there. Zoro's chin lifted and eyes drooped but stayed fixed on Sanji’s.

　　　"Don't worry about it," Sanji's voice was thick and sweet as he could make it, "I'll handle that. It's a lot to take, after all," He smiled, curling his fingers around the shaft as Zoro tensed. He didn't think he could wait to explain; right now, he just wanted to get prepped fast as possible and let Zoro top.

　　　Zoro smacked his hand away.

　　　Sanji yanked it back with a 'hey', staring up at the man still kneeling above him, his arms now crossed over his chest and a deep frown on his face.

　　　"What can't I handle?"

　　　Sanji's shock dropped to contempt.

　　　"You're not serious."

　　　"You tell me." Zoro leered a little closer. "What're you gonna do that I can't?"

　　　"For once, that's not what I meant," Sanji groaned, his head hitting the floor, cock throbbing. He didn't have time for this. He reached back for Zoro's bulge but got his hand knocked and pinned to the nest floor, which did something for him and he made note to come back to it later, and sighed in defeat. "Well, you know how in straight sex, right-?"

　　　Zoro blanked at him.

　　　"Yes,"

　　　"Wow." Sanji rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "Alright. Basically," He flicked a finger towards Zoro's crotch, "That's gonna go in me." His hand clapped his own thigh then trailed between to his groin. Zoro's eyes followed the movement, and it was hard to see, but Sanji was pretty sure the tent grew. He smiled. "Which, if you're not ready, hurts. And that kills the mood. So this way is easier, is all." He let go of himself with a shrug. Zoro's lips tightened.

　　　"And you're so ready," He muttered. Sanji's grin flashed some teeth.

　　　"Done it before." That seemed to give Zoro some pause, studying Sanji flatly, but as he let go of Sanji's wrist he planted back onto his behind, re-folding his arms.

　　　"I want to do it."

　　　Sanji gave up.

 

　　　"Ready?" He sighed. Zoro was flat on his back, legs spread, arms still crossed as he stared at the stars. Sanji had slipped back down to grab some lubricant - his poor, defiled coconut oil - and by the time he got back Zoro had stripped, sat cross-legged like he dared Sanji to object.

　　　Sanji was done objecting. He knew if he kept insisting this would turn into a real fight, and he didn’t want to be left alone with his hand for the night. The problem would solve itself; he’d slip a finger in Zoro’s ass, Zoro would realise he was in way over his head, and then they could finally get back to the fun stuff.

　　　"Just do it already." Zoro sniffed, unfazed. "I'm good."

　　　Sanji rolled his eyes, slicking finger and thumb til the oil there melted. Free hand pulling Zoro's cheek aside he brushed the pad of his finger against Zoro's entrance - who tensed, just barely, but Sanji could feel it - and pushed through.

　　　"HHHHHOOOOOoooooooooooooohhhh."

　　　Sanji froze. Hand fixed in place he gaped at Zoro whose eyes, wide with shock, pointed straight at the sky, his shoulders tense and a dark flush spreading from his neck over cheeks and taut lips. Sanji swallowed.

　　　"Uh..." _What the hell was that?_ "Did that... hurt?"

　　　Zoro kept his mouth clamped, face reddening.

　　　"Zoro, if it hurt, I'm stopping-"

　　　"It didn't hurt," His voice was strained. Sanji studied him.

　　　"Should I keep going?"

　　　He swallowed, again barely, but Sanji could see it.

　　　"Whatever." Breathy and undoing. Sanji's eyes raked over Zoro's knotted brow, the redness burning at his ears, lips bit between his teeth. He pushed further.

　　　He'd meant to stop at the second joint, but had also expected more resistance, and barely caught himself before the full length slipped inside.

　　　Zoro's whole body tensed, gripping his arms where they crossed, a gasp pulled through his teeth. Sanji's head snapped back up to stare just as Zoro slapped a hand to his face, the blush on his ears almost glowing.

　　　A stunned and hungry smile grew across Sanji's lips.

　　　"How's it feel?" He purred, tweaking the finger and making Zoro's legs jerk, a muffled startled sound slipping from behind his hand. "Whatever?"

　　　"Shut up," Zoro hissed through gritted teeth, but he peeled his hand away enough to shoot a glare down at him. Sanji returned it. He brushed a second finger against the first with a thin smile and Zoro didn't flinch, so Sanji pressed against, then through, then in, Zoro inhaling sharply through his nose but otherwise managing silence. Sanji's smile menaced to a full grin. He scissored, just a fraction, but enough to have Zoro flinching his face into his shoulder with a moan he didn't mean to make that had Sanji's cock throbbing.

　　　"Unbelievable." Sanji kept that annoying lilt in his voice, Zoro's right arm flopping over his left as he tried to worm himself in the wood, legs still splayed and thighs twitching. "It's never this easy. You're a natural."

　　　"Shut up." Zoro repeated into his own bicep.

　　　"It's like you were born to-"

　　　Zoro's leg swiped across to where Sanji's crotch would've been if he hadn't expertly dodged. He whipped his head back to Zoro, hand removed to brace with, checking him with indignation and panic. He'd certainly enjoyed teasing him but hadn't meant to cross any lines. Zoro was frowning, but not angry, his half-lidded gaze fixed on Sanji's and his breaths short, heated.

　　　"Thought you said that was going in me."

　　　Sanji's mouth popped open and now Zoro was smiling, heaving himself up onto his elbows, drawing his knee back to his side with erection bobbing between his thighs. Sanji tore his eyes away from it and stammered.

　　　"It's too soon for-" Zoro reached under and slipped two of his own fingers in his ass.

　　　"Seems fine," He raised an eyebrow as his grin sharpened at Sanji. "Maybe you just can't _handle_ it like you thought."

　　　Sanji snapped his mouth shut, eyes narrowing.

　　　His belt hit the wood with a clunk and he rolled more oil in his palm, glaring down at Zoro who just grinned and worked himself. Sanji was pleased to see that smile slip a little when he spread the warmed oil over his cock, Zoro's attention dropping to watch.

　　　"Like what you see?" He hummed, gripping a bit tighter at the base, making it jump. Zoro's eyes flicked back up to his and he shrugged.

　　　"They're kinda ugly." Sanji nodded in agreement.

　　　"Yeah."

　　　Zoro's gaze fell back and he clenched his jaw, slipping his fingers a bit deeper.

　　　"But I don't hate it."

　　　Sanji grinned.

　　　"Yeah."

　　　He slicked over Zoro's entrance, extra oil tacked between fingers as they slipped against Zoro's before he withdrew them to make way. Sanji watched him. He had his lips bitten behind his teeth again and palms planted against the wood, but he met Sanji's gaze, shifting his knee an inch over.

　　　Sanji shuffled to level their hips since chest-to-chest didn't seem right. He was trembling again. This was weird, good weird, but still unbelievable. He was about to be _inside_ Roronoa Zoro. He could almost taste his heartbeat it was that high in his throat and he faltered, thinking about how much easier this had been when they were swept up in the moment. This felt very deliberate. He shot one last, nervous look at Zoro, just in case there was any shred of doubt on his face, anything Sanji's anxiety could latch onto as an excuse to backtrack to familiar ground.

　　　Zoro's face was flushed, lips parted, his chest rising and falling in soft, shallow breaths. He'd been looking at Sanji and bristled for getting caught but didn't hide, just grit his jaw to swallow before giving Sanji the smallest nod. A sound caught and died in Sanji's chest and he pressed the tip of his cock up against Zoro, pushed, and slipped in.

　　　Zoro's whole face had screwed in anticipation, but once Sanji's head slipped past the tightest that tension completely broke, his brow curving as Sanji guided himself in and mouth hanging slack, breathing shallow but measured. Sanji kept checking for any discomfort but had almost bottomed out before Zoro’s brow even flickered. The tightness, the heat, the sight of the man under him made Sanji want to thrust and come right there but he stilled himself, waiting until Zoro's face eased again.

　　　"You good?"

　　　Zoro's hand flitted to his eyes as though he'd remembered Sanji could see him. He grunted again.

　　　"Yeah."

　　　"Then I'll start moving." Zoro tensed. Sanji watched him relax and eventually nod. "I'm serious, though. If it hurts, don't be a hero." Zoro squinted down through his fingers.

　　　"Like hell I'd do that just so you could get off." Sanji grinned.

　　　"That's the spirit." And with that, he let himself draw out his hips and half-thrust back in. Zoro's fingers clamped to shield his eyes again with a grunt and Sanji focused all his energy into maintaining short, measured thrusts, ignoring the urge to let months of sexual frustration run wild. This was Zoro's first experience bottoming - it was his first sexual experience at all, he reminded himself, mind reeling, but refocused - so he wanted it to be a good one. If he showed him how amazing it could feel then he might even wanna do it again.

　　　So far, it seemed to be working. At a slightly braver thrust Zoro's free hand jerked mindlessly to his chest, his fingers clutching with every push. Sanji had Zoro's thighs just cupped to anchor and guide him, and when he nudged them slightly further apart Zoro followed without hesitation and his next thrust hit deeper, pulling a cropped moan from Zoro's throat.

　　　"Faster."

　　　Sanji staggered mid-thrust. The hand over Zoro's eyes had moved into his hairline, freeing him to grimace lopsided at Sanji whose mouth hung open to reply, staring back through tousled fringe.

　　　"Really?" Was all he managed. Zoro grunted and rolled his hips.

　　　"Feels good." Sanji had to grip tighter onto Zoro to recover, gaping at his face. He pored over it, still thrusting, trying to spot his bravado, but Zoro held, even if his eyes did flutter with the movement of their hips. Sanji swallowed.

_Fuck it, alright._

　　　His grip slid higher up Zoro's thighs to give better purchase and he quickened his pace, thrusting with enough speed and force now that Zoro's chest and shoulders jostled with every move, watching his resolve slip, hand gripping his hair and eyes swimming out of focus. Sanji could hear his own breath hike. Zoro was so tight, so hot, and he'd wanted this for so long, but he was going to draw this out as long as he possibly could. Especially since his last thrust knocked another moan from Zoro's throat, louder and needier.

　　　Sanji dropped Zoro's thighs for his waist, pulling as he sat back on his calves so Zoro's hips followed up and onto his lap, jutting from where his back pressed to the ground at such an angle that Sanji's cock hit higher inside him and-

　　　"Oh fuck-!" Zoro cried out, slamming his hands on the floor of the nest. His legs flinched in towards Sanji, hips grinding into his, and Sanji panted proudly. That was the reaction he'd been hoping for. He didn't relent, his strong legs providing the perfect leverage to keep thrusting into Zoro from their position, Zoro's breaths ragged now and coloured with his voice as Sanji gave him no time to recover.

　　　One of his hands skirted from Zoro's hip to his chest, trailing along the dips that shone in the moonlight. This was the only reason he’d ever consider quitting cigarettes, he thought, shaking damp hair from his eyes, the breaths burning in his chest still not as loud as Zoro's. He was close. He congratulated himself on lasting this long but he was reaching his limit, Zoro's fully relaxed heat swallowing him with every thrust, slick noises carrying across the waves and embarrassing the lower deck. By Sanji's reckoning, as he studied the underside of Zoro’s jaw with his head craned back against the wood, Zoro wasn’t that far behind; Sanji could catch him up with his hand so by the time he had to pull out, they’d both be there, and they could finish on his chest. Neat and easy and hot.

　　　As Sanji trailed down to Zoro's cock via his obscenely sculpted abs Zoro swore again, few times in rapid succession, then seized Sanji's forearm, wrenching him to his chest with arms flung across his shoulders and knees pinning his hips, clamping firmly and bodily against him. Sanji's head was trapped by his mouth and Zoro's strangled moans filled his ears while he thrust his hips faster and harder onto Sanji's, taking what he needed, clasping their bodies together for just a few more seconds before he came, loudly, with a shudder. His gasps, the heat, the hand gripped in the back of Sanji's hair, the slick of Zoro's chest against his and the indescribable tightness drawing him deeper snapped Sanji's thread of control and he came, too, still inside, a harsh throaty cry forced into Zoro's neck.

　　　They shivered through their orgasms together, Sanji's vision swimming as he processed what just happened, swearing as Zoro's vice-grip on him loosened and he could pull halfway off with a grimace. Now he'd have to explain why you didn't finish inside.

　　　As he flopped backwards, panting for air, he caught his eye on Zoro's face again and paused. He'd never seen him so at peace. His brow, normally sullen, was completely relaxed, his lids barely shut as his eyes drifted behind them, lips parted while he steadied his breathing. Sanji didn't think he'd ever seen him look so handsome. That thought jolted him to his feet and he fumbled with his belt buckle, squinting around for his shirt's missing buttons. If Nami could fix them he'd forward Zoro her bill.

　　　A loud yawn distracted him as Zoro sat himself up, cracking his neck side to side before casting around for his own shirt. Sanji was amazed. He'd been a happy but stunned wreck for hours after his own first time. Zoro, meanwhile, seemed totally unfazed.

　　　Sanji cleared his throat and hoped he carried the same nonchalance. "By the way," Zoro turned to him with arms stuck halfway out his polo, "You're probably going to have, uh." He chocked the edge of his hand against his gut. "Stomach upsets." Zoro's lips and brow flattened and Sanji pointed at him, leering. "Your little bear hug meant I couldn't pull out in time."

　　　Zoro's face phased rapidly through shock, embarrassment, anger, shock again, etc. He jammed his top down.

　　　"You're the one who hit the..." His hands juggled wildly and Sanji guessed that meant their position change. "The _go_ button. Blame yourself."

　　　Sanji laughed under his breath, nodding, and scooped up his shirt. It was silk. He allowed himself a second to mourn before he slung it over his shoulder and his leg over the nest’s side, scaling down.

　　　"Oi."

　　　Sanji paused, already on the first rungs, glancing up to see Zoro leaning over. "Forgot this." There was a glint of something falling toward him and he whipped a leg out to catch it.

　　　"Thanks." He scooped the jar of oil from the crook of his shoe.

　　　"Where're you going?"

　　　Sanji glanced back up, watching Zoro watch him, leaning his elbows on the barrier. He wondered if this was Zoro asking him to stay. He wondered if he should.

　　　"To sleep," He decided, shoving the jar in his pocket. "Well, to get cleaned up. Then sleep." Zoro raised an eyebrow.

　　　"You're not going to take over the watch?"

　　　Sanji stared back.

　　　"Why would I?"

　　　Zoro frowned at that, arching away and jabbing a finger down at him.

　　　"'Cause this whole thing was just a setup Usopp conned the both of us into, so why should I be the one to stay?" Sanji caked as much sympathy to his face as he could.

　　　"Aww. That's a very good point." He grinned. "Nope." Sliding past the next few rungs he called over his shoulder, "I have to be up in a few hours to make breakfast. You'll just nap later anyway."

　　　"Fine," Zoro called down the ladder, his voice echoing as it grew distant. "But next time, you stay." Sanji grabbed the nearest rung, jerking to a stop, his whole body craned back out to look at Zoro. The air was still cool at that height but he felt warm.

　　　"Next time." He clarified.

　　　"Yeah. You know." Zoro's smirk flashed in the moonlight as he leaned sideways on the rail. "Next time Usopp gets _constipated_ ."

　　　Sanji hung there, staring, letting the crude implication mull over.

　　　"Well," He swung out his arm with a grin of his own, "I hope Chopper can help, 'cause being constipated every day is gonna kill him."

　　　Sanji could tell Zoro's face was red even after his feet had hit the deck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zoro's reaction is based on a true story I read about a guy's first experience with anal play at a prostate exam. He thought he'd hate it. He did not!


	2. Little Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoro muses on the origin of his rivalry with Sanji and his role in his life. Then more porn!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't plan it this way, but this is the only chapter where Zoro tops. It's also one of the filthiest chapters for sure.

　　　Whenever Zoro met someone he asked himself one question;

_ 　　　Can I beat them? _   


　　　For most, the answer was yes. No contest. Sometimes he’d have to think a bit about how he’d do it and how rough it could get. But on the rare occasions he did meet someone he knew he couldn’t beat, he knew there was no point denying it. Accepting weakness was the only path to strength.

　　　For Nami and Usopp the answer was yes, of course. Didn’t take a swordmaster to figure that out. Robin, Chopper, still yes, but they would get tricky. He’d get hurt. Luffy or Mihawk, no. Neither of them. Not yet.   


　　　Sanji...   


_ 　　　Maybe. _   


　　　His impression of Sanji kept changing the longer he knew him. First time they met at the Baratie? Weak conviction. Obvious yes. After Sanji held his own against a fishman, underwater, then kicked him clean through a building? Shit, maybe not. Loguetown, Whisky Peak, Alabasta, Drum - Sanji would refuse to fight some lady and get his ass handed to him, Zoro's estimate would plummet, then he'd slide in with a barrage of kicks and it'd have to shift back up. It was baffling, and Zoro felt like he was baling water just to keep up, saving him, being saved, saving together, never totally sure if Sanji was some kind of genius or just a very lucky asshole... But the longer they spent slumming on the same crew, one thing became very clear.   


　　　Whatever Sanji was, he was helping Zoro be better.   


　　　He'd noticed it early as Arlong Park, when Sanji's boot almost got his face defending Nami's "honour" (he had to laugh). That wasn't the first fight he'd been dragged into by some offended punk but none of them had ever come so close to actually landing. And yet, it riled Zoro to think, Sanji hadn't even been serious. Really it'd been a warning to check himself. Sanji's chivalrous motivation might’ve been sideways but he'd still found a valid point - Zoro couldn't let his temper control him like that, not when it distracted him from their goal and made him miss the signs that something had been wrong. He’d made Zoro see how much farther he had to go, and more importantly, showed him the path to get there.   


　　　Zoro had been so overwhelmed since his loss at the Baratie, burning yet directionless as the difference brute forced between himself and the Warlord loomed like an insurmountable wall, but Sanji's annoyances were etching little footholds.  _ Watch this blind spot. _ Fixed.  _ You left that gap wide open. _ Fixed.  _ Don't get distracted by petty games. _ Working on it.   


　　　Little by little, Zoro was improving, and he had that swirly-brow'd cook to thank for it. They’d had literally bigger fish to fry at the time, so he hadn’t been free to pursue it, but the potential had intrigued Zoro, running his mind with counter-strikes whenever he caught sight of that blond head. All that was left was to test the intrigue was mutual.   


　　　He got his chance at Little Garden. Well, forced it. Sanji's request had been perfectly reasonable, as the crew’s new chef, but Zoro seized what he was given.   


　　　"Sure, I'll kill us some meat," He’d drawled, crunching over the unusually thick blades of grass leading into the jungle, face tucked away, heartbeat thrumming and Wado clutched in his hand, "Kill something bigger than you could ever dream of." His cringe had run all the way down his back and burnt behind his ears as he dragged his feet and he may as well have just yelled for Sanji to come down and play, like some snotty kid, he'd never been any good at this-   


　　　"The hell did you say, bastard!?"   


　　　Zoro had seen Nami mouthing her confusion behind Sanji but ignored her, fixing his face and his attention to the cook. Tempers flared. A challenge was set, then accepted. And as they stalked away from each other and into the jungle, dappled green hiding them the deeper they got, Zoro felt himself smile, out of practice, chest beating with excitement and pride and momentum with Wado still in hand as he walked towards what he'd been waiting for, what he'd been chasing all those years on the sea, second only to the pledge he shared with Kuina.   


　　　He had a rival again.

 

  
　　　The whole week after the bar incident he'd been mad with himself. He'd known he was ruining everything but not how to fix it back to normal, wishing he could just reach through his ears to all those confusing and complicating thoughts and chuck them overboard with the other waste. He'd planned so many times to just corner Sanji in the lounge after dark and tell him they were going to pretend nobody saw anything, that they were getting a do-over, but whenever he'd looked at him his bones kind of turned to jelly and his mouth didn't work any more and he’d had to make himself look away. That week sucked.   


　　　The thing in the crows nest had been a total surprise, to say the least. And he definitely didn't regret it. But as he'd sat left alone to finish the night shift he began to worry if he was ruining it another way. Sure, fooling around with each other was a lot better than ignoring each other, but did that mean other stuff was going to change, too? Maybe they'd have to start being  _ nice _ . He really didn't want to stop - neither did Sanji, by the looks of things - but if he had to choose he’d honestly prefer a rival over a fuck-buddy. Especially if Sanji was about to start  _ flirting _ with him like he flirted with women.   


　　　When he tried to leave breakfast half finished again the next morning and got kicked face-first back into his plate he figured that wasn't going to be an issue. Around the table, everybody grinned.

  
  


　　　The next island was still weeks away and the two found plenty of opportunities to pass the time. Zoro definitely liked to bottom - and to be honest, as he discovered, preferred it - but after one night in the nest when Sanji clocked him on the head with his heel Zoro realised he had to play fair. It was different when Sanji bottomed. He hadn’t been lying; prep really was harder and did take a lot longer for other people, Sanji included. But it was worth it. After all, Sanji was usually such an immaculate, collected guy, not a wrinkle on his suits or a hair out of place, and well-spoken aside from his foul mouth; he was Mister Prince, the cool, untouchable hero, swooping in with effortless charm. So Zoro liked fucking that out of him.

　　　He had him bent over the lounge table, chest pressed into the woodgrain, slamming into him with such force they were inching it across the floor. They were both close and Sanji's legs had long since turned to jelly, knees banging supportlessly with every thrust. What Zoro had really wanted was to bend him over his precious kitchen counter but Sanji had firmly rejected that idea. Still, he’d only held out to the table.

　　　"How's that feel?" Zoro smirked through the thrusts, trying to keep his voice level. "Good?"

　　　Sanji was always a cocky little bastard when he topped. If he got a bit rough, Zoro just got rougher, and they always came harder and messier than they'd planned. It worked for them. But if Zoro topped Sanji the way Sanji topped him he’d learned he got a very different response.

　　　"Yeah..." Sanji mumbled into the table top, his lips smothered against the wood. Zoro's hand flashed down to grip into his hair and he pulled, forcing Sanji's back to arch, the sensation dulled in comparison to Sanji's throaty, unrestrained response. Sanji grasped the table with trembling hands, mouth gaping, gasping, and Zoro basked in it.

　　　"I didn't hear you," He laughed, still thrusting. Sanji choked on a sound.

　　　"God," He barely managed between pants. "Fuck- Yes, it's good-" Zoro tightened his grip and Sanji swallowed his words into a sob, tensing in delight. Zoro's breath hitched. Seeing Sanji worked up and eager like that just made it better.

　　　"I bet it is," Zoro teased, grin in his voice, letting Sanji drop mercifully back to the table with another particularly hard thrust. "Too bad you can’t fuck half as good as me, or I’d know."

　　　"You wish," Sanji panted spinelessly. Zoro hummed to himself, his hand still in Sanji's hair, toying with its softness before giving another playful yank to shake Sanji's voice back out.

　　　"Hey, you're the one who can barely talk from taking my dick," He laughed. He started to let go, but the look Sanji shot him over his shoulder, the way he pressed more readily back into him, the cuffed moan he just barely let escape gave Zoro pause and he held on, still thrusting, studying Sanji's face.

　　　A grin widened over his face and Sanji grimaced, whipping his head the other way a second too late.

　　　"You liked that?" Zoro kept his voice deep and subtle, the laugh in his tone becoming a rumble, and he brought his pace back up again. "Damn, cook, you're dirty."

　　　"Shut up, or I’m going-" Sanji grunted, but Zoro pulled him back so he was almost level against him, the shock it sent through him choking his empty threat into a high, honest moan, Zoro's fist tightening in his hair keeping him gasping every breath as Zoro kept thrusting.

　　　"Say you like it." Zoro's mouth was by Sanji's ear now and it made him shudder, nails scraping against the wood surface he could barely reach, his eyes fluttering but his lips clamped shut. Zoro stared at him. He knew this was risky. Sanji hated being told what to do, and if he pushed this too far he could see himself with a bootprint to his face and a lonely night ahead. But his eyes darted over Sanji's knotted brow and he gave his hair another tug, praying he knew him as well as he thought.

　　　"Say it or I stop." He stilled his hips and pressed his tongue against Sanji's throat and Sanji couldn't stop himself.

　　　"I like it," He blurted, his forceful gasps filling the room as he was rewarded with renewed vigour. Zoro laughed a little, flush creeping up Sanji's cheeks, and he kept lapping at his neck.

　　　"That’s right, you do," He ran his other hand around to Sanji's stomach, slipping his fingers around his cock, surprised to find it already slick. Sanji usually had trouble coming without being jerked off but this was the closest Zoro had seen him get. He'd like to see how far he could take that, but unfortunately, as Sanji clenched around him with a moan that made Zoro grit his jaw, he didn't think he had enough time. "Bet you’ve never had something this big inside you," He recovered, and Sanji's twitch against him told him that was the right thing to say. “Tell me how bad you want my cock.”

　　　“I w-” Sanji slipped easily, mindlessly, but recovered and silenced himself, turning against the hand holding him, face almost totally red. Zoro wasn’t having that. He gripped his other hand around Sanji’s erection, calloused fingertip brushing over his sensitive head, making his whole body spasm up and into Zoro’s chest and his head tip back on Zoro’s shoulder as his mouth jumped open again.

　　　“Say it.”

　　　“I want it,” The words fell out, wet, his throat croaking and another bead of precum slipping over Zoro’s finger. Zoro kept his mouth fixed against Sanji’s neck, feeling and hearing his reactions, his eyes craned up at Sanji’s jaw.

　　　“Say you need it.”

　　　“I need it-!” Sanji wasn’t trying to resist anymore, his head lolling back and resting fully, mercily on Zoro’s shoulder, his hot rushed breaths warming Zoro’s neck. Zoro was glad Sanji’s eyes were rolled shut so he wouldn’t see him staring at this face nobody on the crew got to see, maybe nobody else at all, unrefined and uncontained and beautiful. Zoro hadn’t realised his hips had stilled again, but Sanji had, and he’d obviously interpreted it as more punishment as he let out a cry and thrust himself back onto Zoro’s cock.

　　　“I need it, I need it,” He started babbling, his head twitching to the side and startling Zoro as his lips almost brushed his, his desperate words spilling before his ears. “Please, I’m sorry, I need your cock, Zoro-”

　　　Hearing his name from Sanji’s lips like that Zoro snapped, just a bit.

　　　He shoved him back down onto the table and pulled out - Sanji choked - then threw him onto his side, hoisting one of Sanji's legs over his shoulder to let the heel bounce against his back as he thrust in.

Sanji was definitely too loud now but too close to care to cover his mouth, and Zoro leaned in even further with every bruising thrust, poring over the agony and pleasure on Sanji's face. He wouldn't look away even if he could. Part of him wanted this to keep going on and on, to just hang in this moment where he had him at his mercy- but Sanji slammed his hands back on the table and tensed his entire body and Zoro battened down, crashing into him one last time before Sanji finally released, shooting over the table and loosing guttural cries from his lips.

　　　Zoro pulled out in time to spill his own load crudely between and over Sanji's legs and stomach, careless, still too focused on the other man. Sanji was barely there now, panting as his face settled into happy overwhelmed disbelief, tensing just for a moment as Zoro's hand roughly squeezed the last throes of his orgasm from him with tired moans mingling in his breaths. Zoro watched. When Sanji finally found the strength to open his eyes he met his gaze and for just a second, Sanji held it, and almost seemed to melt; but then they both sobered and he kicked Zoro lazily away, slurring to go get the bleach so they could scrub down the table before bed.

He always snapped back so quickly, as if he hadn't just gotten fucked brainless and enjoyed every second of it, and Zoro knew the next night the tides would be turned and it would be him begging for mercy and release.

　　　Zoro helped him clean. He felt like maybe he should mind. But he didn't, at all.


	3. Jaya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A softer chapter as the crew gets ready to head for Water 7 with some gentle porn, and Sanji reflecting on his changing relationship with Zoro.

　　　It had been Sanji's rotten luck getting lookout duty the night the mother of all Grand Line storms ravaged their ship to leave the entire crew exhausted. Still, he was glad Merry had pulled through. She always did, but she’d taken a beating and a half since they plummeted back from Skypiea and needed to be pampered until they could go get her fixed.

　　　He had assumed Zoro, like the others, would be too tired to even move, especially since he’d missed his usual nap. So when Zoro’s mossy head had peeked over the side of the nest, then spied him with a grin of his own, he'd felt a spark of lust and what he assumed was pride that made him motion silently for Zoro to come join him. They'd sat, side-by-side in the moonlight, back against the mast, Sanji offering up half the paltry blanket he'd found and wrapped around himself. He had no ulterior motive. Not even Zoro's freakish stamina could’ve survived their day and he hadn't expected anything but company.

　　　They'd sat there for a while in peace, not speaking or feeling the need to speak, Sanji appreciating the shared body warmth spreading under the blanket to relax his strained muscles. Zoro had only broken the silence to suggest they work in shifts, one of them napping while the other kept watch, and Sanji had nodded but joked Zoro should go first since he was too sore to sleep himself. They'd passed a few more minutes in that comfortable silence before Sanji felt a warm, broad hand under the blanket brush tentatively over his thigh to his crotch.

　　　He'd glanced over at Zoro, who hadn't been looking his way, and started to ask what he was up to, but let it trail off as Zoro's hand gently but firmly stroked a reaction from him. He'd heard a low, quiet chuckle and an off-handed remark about how he was just helping him relax.

　　　Sanji had let his head rest against the mast, eyes heavy, as Zoro slipped beneath his slacks and started stroking his half-hardened length. It hadn't been wild or desperate like they defaulted to. As Zoro worked him with slow, sleepy tenderness, it felt almost like he was doing him a favor.

　　　Sanji'd felt his own breath hitch as a familiar heat pooled in his gut and had reached for Zoro's thigh, feeling him falter in surprise but then give another encouraging tug as Sanji's fingers slid effortlessly under his waistband to find him already half-hard, too.

　　　They'd continued like that for a while, soft noises and hitched breaths the only sounds over the waves below and Sanji had felt himself unwinding, building up gently to a satisfying release, leaning slightly over onto Zoro as his weary muscles finally relaxed. He’d felt Zoro’s breath on his cheek, heard his heart beat as he slumped against his shoulder, and if he'd looked up he would've seen Zoro was staring at him, eyes darting between each of his features, but he hadn’t, so didn’t expect to feel Zoro's lips press against his own.

　　　The ease he kissed back with surprised him and he quickened his hand's pace. It’d felt so good to be able to relax and let go into someone like that, to feel his tired aching body turn to cream against Zoro's warmth, to lean into a soft and eager mouth unbaring its usual teeth and feel Zoro's grip tighten just that little bit when Sanji couldn't help a gentle sigh.

　　　Zoro had come first, catching Sanji off guard, and the way he'd pressed into the kiss and fumbled his only moan that night sent electricity down Sanji's spine that had him quick to follow. They'd sat like that a while, catching their breath, Sanji's head tucked under Zoro's chin accepting the warmth radiating from his body, feeling them softening in each others' hand, and allowed himself to be washed over by content.

　　　When he opened his eyes again it was daybreak. He'd admonished Zoro for not sticking to their bargain, detangling himself from the blanket, but Zoro'd just yawned and dropped his barbell to lounge across the other side of the nest, telling him to go make breakfast if he felt so bad. He was asleep by the time Sanji shot him one last look on his way over the side.

The contentedness had stayed with Sanji while he whisked the eggs for breakfast, cleared dishes after lunch, through that whole day and into the next.

 

 

　　　Perhaps that contendness was what jogged Sanji’s memory.

　　　He was standing by the sink, absentmindedly wiping off a clean dish as he gazed across the Merry’s lower deck past Chopper and Luffy playing some kind of game. He couldn’t see much of the ocean from the porthole over the sink. He wondered if maybe the shipwright they were on their way to find could renovate the sink to face starboard, over the sea, as he stacked the plate and picked up a cup. But maybe it was more advantageous to keep an eye on Luffy until he got a fridge with a lock.

　　　For now, if he angled his head right, he could see a beautiful triangle of blue between the cannon deck and the mast, which is where his attention often drifted doing dishes. He was there now, daydreaming as always of All Blue, his head filled with rainbow schools and sea turtles and giant jellyfish.

　　　That’s when he remembered a conversation from shortly after he first joined the crew, dropping into his mind like a pebble into his ocean.

　　　With Nami (the angel) returned to the crew they were again set for the Grand Line, and Sanji and Zoro, strangers, had tried awkwardly to break the ice. Sanji had made a polite comment while Zoro cleaned his swords. Zoro had taken that as a prompt to launch into dry re-commitment to keep training and beat the strange cat-eyed man Sanji witnessed cut him up at the Baratie. Sanji didn’t remember exactly how he’d responded, but it’d probably been equally dry, and after some petty back-and-forth Zoro had yawned that Sanji wouldn’t understand until he had a dream of his own.

_ 　　　“For your information, I already have a dream,” _ Sanji had retorted before he could stop himself.

_ 　　　“Yeah? Like what?” _

　　　Sanji had hesitated.

_ 　　　“You ever heard of All Blue?” _

　　　Zoro hadn’t, so Sanji had briefly explained, shoulders tense and filter viced in his teeth. He’d been expecting Zoro to laugh, to ask him if he seriously still believed in fairy tales at his age. To tell him that was a pathetic goal to dedicate your life to like so many others had. But Zoro had just kind of shrugged.

_ 　　　“Fair enough.” _

_ 　　　“But you don’t believe me, do you,” _ Sanji remembered feeling suspicious.

_ 　　　“Does it matter what I believe?” _ Zoro had asked. Sanji hadn’t known how to really respond to that. It made him recognise he'd been quietly fishing for Zoro's approval, but to be told he didn't need it felt oddly more affirming than if he had.

_ 　　　“No. I’m just surprised. Most people say it’s stupid.” _

　　　Sanji could still clearly picture how Zoro had resheathed his sword, too quick and clean to follow, blade catching the light til white hilt hit its scabbard.

_ 　　　“If that’s your dream, the only one who can call it stupid is you.” _

　　　Since then, Sanji had stopped prefacing any stories about All Blue with  _ I know it’s stupid, but hear me out. _

　　　He shook his head back to the present, pulling the plug from the sink as he looked back to the deck. He’d recognised Zoro’s advice from his same speech at the Baratie, but it wasn’t until recently that the weight of those words had really struck him. He watched as Luffy and Chopper’s game tumbled them over the railing, across the deck, and straight smack into Zoro, who had - operative word - been napping, and as he snapped at them for fleeing consequence Sanji couldn’t help the smile creeping over his face. Not that he’d ever admit it to the swordsman, but Sanji held deep respect for his dedication now, and to think Zoro might hold Sanji’s dream in the same regard as he held his own lit a little spark of pride inside him.

　　　Zoro turned from where he had been scowling and caught Sanji looking. His face flipped beet red and Sanji burst into laughter, openly, happily, all teeth and gums and rolling shoulders. Through his embarrassment Zoro slipped a wonky, poorly-hidden smile, but still flipped onto his side and feigned sleep.

　　　Sanji regarded his exaggerated snoring with fondness and the little bubble of contentedness he’d been floating in popped.

　　　Fond? Of Zoro? Not possible. The thought sent a shudder up Sanji’s back as he dried his hands on a towel. He respected him, annoying as he was, and at a stretch he could admit he admired him. Maybe. A little. Plus the sex was great. But being  _ fond _ of him almost felt wrong.

　　　Zoro was perfect to fool around with precisely because he was so uncomplicated. He was an uncomplicated man incapable of deeper emotion; Sanji knew he wouldn't bring any neediness, any baggage, any demands or expectations. Sanji didn’t want fondness. Zoro couldn’t offer it. It was fun, clear. Safe.

　　　Work done, he strolled across the deck to Zoro for something else uncomplicated.


	4. Water Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoro has a rude awakening at Water Seven. No porn, but some heavy flirting.

　　　Zoro wandered through the streets of one of Water 7’s shopping districts, cursing Nami’s directions. She’d said the nearest weapons store was due west from where the Franky Family was harboring their new ship but he’d been turning left this whole time and still hadn’t found it. She did this stuff on purpose.

　　　Two familiar voices drifted past and he whipped around to find them, but his grin fell when he realised Sanji and Chopper were on the other side of the high wall across one of those annoying canals. Still, he stumbled along, bumbling his way past everyone working to fix the damage from Aqua Laguna, following the sound of Chopper’s hooves on the cobbled path until he could find a bridge or a Yagara Bull to stepping-stone over.

　　　“-but he’s okay, right?”

　　　“Yeah, Franky said he’s fine, he’s camping out in the back alleys.”

　　　“Maybe we should go see him again…” Chopper’s voice dropped and Zoro scowled. He was pretty sure they were talking about Usopp, and he didn’t like the implication they’d sneaked off to see him before this, too.

　　　“No.” Sanji’s voice was firm. “I agree with Zoro this time. I want him back on the crew as much as you do, but he needs to grow up first. Luffy too.” Zoro smiled to himself as he slipped past a couple of middle-aged workers to hop over a narrower crossing canal. Hearing that Sanji thought he was right smacked warmth into his chest, especially since he didn’t get to hear him admit it that often. He chuckled, silently, thinking how he probably only got to hear it because he wasn’t supposed to. But he didn’t need to be told to know when Sanji agreed with him. Despite what others might think, behind all their fighting and bickering they shared an understanding that didn’t need to be voiced to be known. Kind of like Franky and that Iceburg guy.

　　　He heard Chopper’s baleful little reindeer-snort of agreement, then a gasp.

　　　“Oh!”

　　　“Sanji! Chopper!”

　　　Zoro beamed at Luffy’s voice, frustrated that the side of the canal he was on seemed to be dipping lower while their side climbed higher, but he could see a bridge not too far off.

　　　“What’s with your face, Luffy? You get into a fight?”

　　　Zoro craned his neck fruitlessly, pouting, annoyed at the idea of a fight without him.

　　　“What about you, Sanji? Your clothes are all torn up!”

　　　“Oh, come on,” Zoro muttered under his breath, breaking into a jog. Chopper giggled knowingly.

　　　“We’re going shopping.” Hah, so Sanji was ignoring him. “Want to come with?”

　　　“You should let me do that!” The familiar slap of hand on hand.

　　　“Like hell I’d trust you with our grocery budget,” Zoro laughed at the tone in Sanji’s voice. He knew it well. “Last time that happened you bought nothing but meat and ate most of it before it got back to the ship. Raw.” Chopper’s hooves clacked with a shudder.

　　　“I’m just trying to help,” Luffy sounded muffled, probably puffing his cheeks. “I figured you’d want to spend this time with Zoro.”

　　　Zoro stopped. Nobody said anything for a second and he was afraid he’d lost them.

　　　“Why do you say that,” Sanji’s voice stayed level.

　　　“Hmm,” Zoro picked up the pace as he heard Luffy’s thoughtful hum a bit farther off. “Cause that’s what you do when you’re dating?”

　　　Zoro almost stumbled into the canal. Judging by the sound of a cart’s wheels clattering against stone and some surprised passers-by, Sanji had just done the same.

　　　“Date- Dating!? Zoro? Me? You think-?” Sanji’s voice was so funny when he got flustered, almost breaking, and Zoro enjoyed pushing him to that point himself- but he shook his head. He wouldn’t say he and Sanji were dating, exactly, but...

　　　“What, you’re  _ not _ dating?” Luffy whined. Zoro cocked his head to the side as he jogged. Well, he wouldn’t exactly say that, either-

　　　“Of course not.” Sanji’s voice was resolute and Zoro slowed, snapping up at the wall as if he could see where behind it they were standing. “I have no idea what would give you that impression.”

　　　“Oh, ‘cause you and him are always sneaking off to fuUAGH, Chopper, that hurt!!”

　　　Zoro smothered his face in his hand as he trod behind their voices. So Luffy knew.

　　　“He just means because you two spend so much time together now,” Chopper gushed, but carried a note of concern. “But… you two really aren’t…?”

_ Everyone  _ knew?

　　　Zoro caught a belaboured exhale and a rising plume of smoke. That meant Sanji was either really embarrassed or really pissed. Or he’d just had some really good sex, but Zoro hoped that wasn’t the case.

　　　“Maybe we are spending more time with each other.” Sanji’s voice sounded like when he thought Zoro was trying to steal booze. “Whatever you think of that. But nothing else, got that? You don’t get your pick of company out there, after all.”

　　　Zoro’s steps had slowed to a crawl as he watched the smoke drift into the sky.

　　　“So you’re just, what, rivals? Really?” Luffy was starting to sound bored. Sanji’s laugh barked over the rushing canal.

　　　“What’s he got to be rivaling me over?”

　　　Zoro stopped at the foot of the bridge, people bustling past him on their way to the shopping street above. Luffy sounded indignant, and Chopper was trying to change the subject, but their voices got distant and Zoro couldn’t make out words any more. That shouldn’t have hurt. He and Sanji had never said anything to each other about this before, and he’d watched Sanji swoon over women almost daily without caring. If someone had asked Zoro the same question he probably would’ve given the same answer. So why did it hurt? Here? Now? To hear Sanji assure their Captain he didn’t consider him like that, that he didn’t even consider him at all?

Was he nothing to Sanji?

　　　Zoro blinked down at the water gurgling past the grate under the bridge across the canal.

　　　When had Sanji become something to him?

“Fuck,” He blurted, and turned past an offended shopper to walk back the way he thought he came.

 

 

　　　“Hey, Zoro,”

　　　Zoro jolted to as Sanji’s head popped over the rail of the upper deck, upside-down grin on his upside-down face. He’d just been fastidiously arranging his new galley and was obviously still riding that high.

　　　“Want to come check out this pub I found?” His voice lilted as he leaned on his forearms, peering down at Zoro, who’d been feigning sleep on the turf. “Get this, it’s called the Bluffing Tom. Since I’ve  _ maybe _ been guilt-tripping everyone in town for falsely accusing us they’re practically giving us the booze. I bet even you could afford to get totally hammered,” He added with a grin.

　　　Zoro stared up at him blankly. Sanji’s smile faltered a bit.

　　　“I’m good,” Zoro said.

　　　“You sure?” Sanji’s eyebrow jumped and he stood straight. “It’s our last night here, I thought I’d have to peel you off the bar.”

　　　Zoro kept staring. When Sanji started to fidget under his fixed attention, he closed his eyes and shuffled back to fake-sleep.

　　　“I’m sure.”

　　　There was a pause.

　　　“Suit yourself,” He heard Sanji’s quiet voice as he stepped off to the gangway.

 

 

　　　Zoro sighed over his pint of beer.

　　　He really had no right to be mad at Sanji. He hadn’t done anything wrong, he hadn’t even done anything he hadn’t done before. But Zoro knew now. Why did people write songs about this? Who would want to remember feeling this powerless? If Luffy ever got that musician he wanted Zoro was going to pay them not to do ballads.

　　　He cast an eye around from the corner he'd claimed. This place really was a hole. After giving Sanji a head start he’d scrambled to find the farthest, sketchiest tavern he could, desperate to get out of his head for their last hours on Water 7 and maybe, if he played right, into someone else’s pants.

　　　Was this what Sanji did when they hit land, he thought bitterly, hands gripping his tankard, run away to the nearest bar to find someone better to- no, fuck, he wasn't supposed to be thinking about him. They would be trapped together on a boat again starting tomorrow and then not-thinking-about-him wouldn’t be an option, so tonight, Zoro was getting thoroughly distracted.

　　　It struck him, as he eyed over some giggling women and inebriated men, that he had no idea how to tell which people were gay. He wished someone would invent a bar where only gay people went. He decided to just assume everyone was gay until proven otherwise, he reasoned, since it wasn’t like anyone could take much offense, sword sheaths hitting against his barstool as he ordered another drink. So who here was his type? He blinked at a barrel-chested man twirling a lady around on a stage. Did he even have a type? He’d never even thought about it until it literally dropped into his lap. Now he knew he really, really, really liked thick legs that went rock hard when they tensed and swirly chest hairs and- Fuck. That wasn’t not thinking.

　　　A figure sloped against the bar next to him, hailing a finger to the barkeep, and Zoro peered a little closer. He was tall, maybe taller than him, and really broad, his upper arm almost as thick as Zoro’s chest. Zoro found that impressive, but was that the same as attractive? His face was so indistinct Zoro would be hard pressed to recognise him tomorrow, but he had a little scratchy beard on his chin that made him smile. Good enough.

　　　“Hey,” Zoro nodded to him, raising his tankard. The man glanced at him, twice, then gave a short nod before turning away. “You gay?” He turned slowly back with an expression Zoro couldn’t read working over his face. “‘Cause I am,” Zoro quickly clarified, “I think,” raising his drink to the stranger for emphasis before taking another sip. The larger man stayed staring, as if trying to figure his game, before angling his body just that much more towards Zoro’s with a raised eyebrow and a curious smirk. Zoro grinned over the rim of his tankard.

　　　He wasn’t local, just another pirate from a small crew there to upgrade their ship. Zoro gave him a fake name (Zolo) and said he was a bounty hunter, which wasn’t technically a lie. The pirate asked if he was after his head. It was just blatant enough for Zoro to actually parse it as flirting and he leaned a little closer, mumbling maybe, if he was lucky.

　　　It was interesting, picking up in bars. He’d gotten so used to having the cook-he-wasn’t-thinking-about at hand that he’d never really tried. He still didn’t know if he was attracted to this guy, but he wasn’t put off at all when he rested a large hand on Zoro’s bicep, and he wondered briefly how the sex would compare to Sanji. His smile dropped for a second and he hid behind his drink. Nope. No more. Sanji wasn’t thinking about him, wherever he was that night, so Zoro was absolutely not going to spend another second thinking about Sanji.

　　　But oh fuck, there he was.  
　　　Zoro’s attention had slipped over the pirate’s shoulder to find Sanji sat at a table on the other side of the stage. His posture was relaxed, charming, long sleek legs stretched before him as he reclined, audience to a handsome man brandishing a bottle of wine. They both laughed and the stranger topped up Sanji’s glass, which he took with grace before turning to lock eyes with Zoro.

　　　They froze, Sanji’s face blanking, drink halfway to his lips, Zoro aware his mouth was hanging open just slightly. Trying frantically to figure out how the hell Sanji had found him all the way out here in the middle of nowhere, his focus shifted to the wall behind their table and he finally registered the sign hanging from a crossbeam;

_ 　　　Bluffing Tom. _

　　　Oh, son of a.

　　　Zoro directed his attention back to Sanji and saw Sanji’s had turned to the pirate with him, eyes skimming over his breadth before flicking back to Zoro. After another pause Sanji raised his eyebrows pointedly and took a sip.

　　　Zoro turned back to the pirate in front of him, who seemed to be waiting for some response.

　　　“Sorry, I didn’t hear a fuckin’ thing you just said,” Zoro said with a grin, slapping a hand down where the man’s shoulder met his chest.

　　　Zoro squeezed, the pirate smiled at him curiously, and behind them Sanji jolted, coughing into his wine. His legs snapped back under him as if to stand, staring between Zoro and the man he was touching, but then he eased himself back and re-curved toward his own stranger. He threw his shoulders back in loud, obvious laughter at whatever joke the man had told and slid a leg under their table to brush against his.

　　　Zoro’s eyes narrowed.

　　　He ran his hand up the pirate’s shoulder to grasp his neck, stepping a little closer.

　　　“Think anyone here would care about two men kissing?” He leaned in by his ear to hide that he was watching Sanji watch them over his glass.

　　　“Doubt it,” The pirate growled back, his hand finding Zoro’s waist, “This is a gay bar.” Oh, so they did exist. Cool.

　　　The pirate’s lips pressed against Zoro’s neck and he had to admit it felt good, shivering at his touch, but keeping his focus on Sanji’s reaction. Sanji stayed on the two of them, blanked of emotion, then leaned in and slid a pale hand up his partner’s inner thigh.

　　　Seeing Sanji with another man shot Zoro through with anger, which he knew was really jealousy, which made him feel pathetic enough to squeeze his eyes shut and wrap his arms around the pirate’s neck. Broad hands worked over to Zoro’s backside while a deep voice rumbled something about being eager and Zoro tried to focus on how that felt. It was different, and he didn’t hate it. He could work with this. His touch was more forceful yet somehow less intense than Sanji’s, and the way he held him wasn’t anything he was used to, and Zoro was just starting to get to a point where if he really, really tried he might be able to forget all about the shitty cook when the pirate’s tongue ghosted over his earrings and he shuddered, catapulted back to their first night together in the crow’s nest and every night since Sanji had learned how that drove him wild. That’s what he wanted. Nothing else.

　　　He flinched away from the other man, his hands jutting between them and forcing some space, feeling him recoil in surprise and confusion.

　　　“Can’t,” He muttered, “Sorry.”

He glanced over, expecting to see Sanji triumphant and smirking as he was lavished with attention, but instead found him already standing and whispering something down to the still-seated stranger before he exited via the service door. Zoro slammed down some apologetic Bellies for the pirate’s drink and gave chase.

 

 

　　　He had anticipated some deja vu as he burst into the alley, but Sanji wasn’t running this time, leaning his shoulder against the neighbouring building. He jumped at the door opening and closing behind him and checked over his shoulder, looking genuinely surprised to see Zoro.

　　　“What’re you doing here?” Smoke jetted from his lips, orange tip burning in the dark. Zoro frowned and shuffled on his feet.

　　　“I didn’t know this was the same bar,” He admitted. Sanji stared.

　　　“You expect me to believe that?”

　　　“... Yeah?”

　　　Sanji kept staring for a few seconds before he shrugged, taking another drag. It was plausible.

　　　“What I mean,” He turned to lean his back against the wall instead, watching his feet, “Is what you’re doing out here instead of in there, with your friend.” Zoro looked at him, tensing and untensing his hands, trying to figure out if Sanji was asking what he thought he was asking or if he was still being naive.

　　　“What, are you jealous?” He tried not to sound too hopeful. Sanji squinted at the wall in front of him.

　　　“Kind of?” Zoro’s heart leapt into his throat but he quashed it back down since Sanji’s tone wasn’t exactly romantic. “I mean, you blow me off only to show up anyway and hook up with someone else,” Sanji waved his cigarette idly, watching the clouds drift in front of the moon. “I guess… it bruised my ego.” He shot Zoro a grin that turned Zoro’s stomach warm and white and giddy. “Go back inside. He seemed fun.”

　　　“I don’t want to,” Zoro blurted. He regretted it. Sanji frowned, jerking his head back, regarding Zoro strangely. He took another drag.

　　　“Not your type…?” He picked, slowly, eyes fixed on his. Zoro swallowed. This was killing him already. How would it feel stewing for weeks together at sea? A flicker of concern crossed over Sanji’s brow as he waited for an answer and seeing it, feeling like in any, tiny way, Sanji might be thinking about him, Zoro made up his mind. He was taking some control over these uncontrollable thoughts.

　　　“I know, for you, you couldn’t pick your company,” He chose his words carefully, resting his hand on his swords to ground himself, “But for me, I got my first pick.”

　　　Sanji frowned at him, cigarette lifted to his lips, eyes flicking from Zoro’s left to his right as he tried to decode what that meant before realisation and horror dawned over his face.

　　　“Oh, my God, you heard me- You were there?” He whispered, dropping his hand. “Shit. Shit, Zoro, I didn’t mean-” He seemed to catch himself and took another drag, gritting his jaw and jiggling his foot. Zoro gripped Wado and waited for him to finish. “I didn’t mean for you to hear that,” Sanji finally added, not able to meet his eye. Zoro’s shoulders drooped a little. That was better than nothing, but it sure wasn’t what he’d been hoping for. What had he been hoping for?

　　　“But you did mean it.”

Sanji stared at him through his fringe, lips pursed, arm hanging, cigarette dangling between his fingers.

　　　“I mean, we  _ aren't _ dating,” His voice was hoarse. Zoro nodded. Sanji flicked the ash off his cigarette a few more times than necessary before lifting it to his lips. “But I… might’ve been projecting a bit, with the rest.” He smiled weakly to himself, looking away. Zoro’s eyes were fixed to the bricks in the wall because he didn’t know what he’d say if he looked at him and Sanji let his smoke out shakily. “To be honest, I don’t think I’ve met anyone I’d pick over you.”

　　　Zoro tore away to stare at Sanji, eyes wide, mouth almost dropping, heart beating in his ears.

　　　“Yeah…?”

Sanji nodded.

　　　“I was embarrassed, put on the spot like that, but I mean, look at you,” He waved his cigarette around in his direction. “Sure, this all started just ‘cause it was convenient, but you’re a solid nine at  _ least _ . I’d have to be stupid not to-”

　　　Zoro had closed the distance between them, blocking the light from the bar’s windows as he stood over Sanji, body inches from his, eyes locked. Sanji held his gaze, startled but not shying, and slowly, intentionally, he dropped his cigarette, crushing it under his shoe without breaking eye contact, then draped his arms up over Zoro’s shoulders.

　　　A short breath escaped Zoro as he rushed his lips to Sanji’s and Sanji readily responded, working quickly to deepen the kiss and slide a knee between Zoro’s legs. Zoro shifted to stop him. Instead he grazed his hands up to cup Sanji’s face, turning their kiss softer, gentler, tender. To tell him without telling.

　　　Sanji’s arms stiffened around Zoro’s neck, the mood clearly not lost on him, but Zoro brushed the tips of his fingers into Sanji’s hair to hold him as they fell back into their kiss and a quiet, vulnerable moan slipped from Sanji’s throat. Zoro broke away but kept his lips pressed against Sanji’s cheek as he panted, trembling, terrified by how alien but exhilarating this felt, how ridiculous it was to be nervous when they’d done this so many times but had also never, ever done this. Sanji’s hands gripped onto Zoro’s shoulders.

　　　“Zoro,” He whispered, voice as unsteady as Zoro felt, and Zoro drew back just enough to look into his eyes, forehead pressed against his, face still held in his hands like he was cupping water, willing Sanji to understand.

　　　For a moment hope rose warm in Zoro’s chest and throat as Sanji gazed back up at him, eyes round with honesty, taking in everything Zoro offered. But with a flinch Sanji’s lips clamped together and brow withered and he grabbed Zoro’s hand with his.

　　　“Zoro,” His voice had dropped now, nervous. “I don't do this.”

　　　Zoro thought of Sanji professing his undying love to every woman he'd ever met. 

　　　“Not with men?”

　　　Sanji jerked Zoro's hand down and away, letting it go like it burned. 

　　　“Not with you.”


	5. Shells Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanji figures out why he's so mad with Zoro. Luffy tells him the story of how they met. The porn returns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Usopp has finally returned to the crew, post-Water Seven and all that entails.

　　　They had been at sea for only a couple of days and the tension was already unbearable. The rest of the crew might not have known exactly what happened, but they could tell _something_ had, and with Sanji and Zoro openly ignoring and avoiding each other it was clearly a big something.

　　　“Sanji-!” Chopper cried as he and Usopp spilled out of the boy’s cabin, Usopp clutching his stomach and writhing in pain. Sanji stepped right over them.

 

 

　　　Sanji wasn’t entirely sure why he was so opposed to a relationship with Zoro. It’s not like he hadn’t considered the possibility of more than casual sex with men, especially after a few specific rejections had him drunkenly swearing off women for good, but the idea of trying that with Zoro felt _bad._ He didn’t need any more justification. It was enough, on its own, and he didn’t need to think about it.

　　　Why did it feel so bad? He ground down on a toothpick as he moved a bowl to clean water, determined not to let smoke sully his new galley (for now). He’d been interested in Zoro physically since the day they'd met, and respected him as a friend since not long after, but the thought of anything more felt like he’d brushed a hot skillet in his mind. Always had. Why?

　　　He scrubbed a tea stained mug. Probably the fighting. Not just arguing, but all-out, physical brawling. He was pretty sure that wasn’t an indicator of a healthy relationship.

　　　But hadn’t it always felt so invigorating, being the sole center of Zoro’s attention like that? To feel like everything had slipped from his periphery and his senses were all honed on Sanji, and Sanji’s on him? Hadn’t it always felt thrilling, Zoro’s thrumming heat and energy so close to his it was mixing, whether they were aiming at each other or together at a common threat?

　　　Sanji coughed a laugh and stacked the mug on the rack. Well, he hadn’t come out of the Baratie not knowing how to appreciate a good fight. Besides, this wasn’t about what he _didn’t_ want from a partner, it was about what he _did_. Since childhood he’d daydreamed of meeting his wonderful, sweet, delicate bride, someone who would be there by his side, day and night, exploring fresh markets together for the finest produce, taking it back to their kitchen to make beautiful food together, surrounded by a happy brood of precious children. It was every gentleman’s dream.

　　　He thought about how he hated getting held up when he went shopping. And how he hated anyone cramping his style in the kitchen. And how he hated kids, kind of just in general, really.

　　　He almost threw the spoon he was scouring into the sink and shook his head clear. Well, he’d figured that would change when he met the right person. That he might not be ready for those things now, but they would be good for him, and eventually what he’d want would change to match.

　　　What did that change feel like? When would he know it was happening?

　　　Sanji picked up the next plate, smeared with tacky streaks of hot sauce. Usopp’s.

　　　He lowered it to sit a moment and soak.

　　　Zoro thought about everything and everyone, lots, even if he didn’t show it. Sanji had tried to pretend he believed Zoro was just an unfeeling, unemotional lunk, like everyone else did, because then Zoro would be safe. Safe to fool around with, to indulge in and play sweethearts, because at the end of the day it would never mean anything to Zoro so it didn’t have to mean anything to Sanji.

　　　But Sanji had known since that lamplit night that none of what people said about Zoro was true. Why had he tried to pretend today wouldn’t come? Had he been punishing himself? His stomach churned with _bad_ again and he gripped the counter. This wasn't his fault. Why couldn’t Zoro have just let them have their fun? Why did he have to go and ask for something he didn’t need, that Sanji could never give? He and Zoro would never, ever work, they were fundamentally incompatible, Sanji was sure of it, even if he couldn’t put his finger on why-

　　　He reached for the next plate and stopped.

　　　The door to the galley burst open and Nami stalked in, Luffy hot on her heels.

　　　“-but think about how cool it would be!”

　　　“You’ve got some nerve- Sanji, tea, please, if you would- thinking you can hit me up for money when you’re still paying off the last damage you-”

　　　Sanji slammed the plate onto the bench.

　　　Nami and Luffy both jerked to stare at him as he hunched over the sink on tensed forearms, a thoroughly chewed toothpick swiveling between his fingers.

　　　“Something… wrong?” Nami peered back through the doorway, probably to check if Zoro had just stalked off in the other direction. Sanji tried to calm himself, for her, but failing to fix a handsome face just jabbed his finger down at the plate. She craned over and pursed her lips.

　　　“How many times,” Sanji’s voice was strained and dangerous, “Do I have to tell that… moss-brained… blunt-sworded… _shithead,_ that food waste is _not_ tolerated on this ship.”

　　　“Woah woah, I missed leftovers?” Luffy slapped his way over, peeking under Nami's arm. He stopped. He looked from the plate, to Sanji, to the plate again. “Chicken bones?”

　　　“I gathered all the bones from tonight's roast to make stock,” Sanji grated, aggressively drying his hands and throwing the towel to the bench, “Or at least I thought I had. But who knows how long these have been sitting out, so now they’re useless.”

　　　“I think everyone in the crew agrees with your perfectly reasonable, rational rules,” Nami navigated, guiding Luffy back to the table and out of Sanji's rage zone. “But perhaps, on occasion, our definitions of _food waste_ differ.”

　　　“Yeah.” Luffy nodded, flopping on a bench. “You never tell me off for leaving bones.”

　　　“Because you _don't_ , you _animal_ ,” Sanji spat, but did show a glimpse of genuine fear. Luffy grinned. Sanji sighed and grabbed the kettle in defeat. This might not seem like much to them, but it was everything to him - it was the very core of why he and Zoro would be impossible. He could concede that he maybe didn’t need a doting wife, he didn’t need that picturesque family or perfectly mirrored partner he’d always imagined, but he knew he needed someone who shared his values. Which was something Zoro could never provide, Sanji nodded, as he slid the lid on the teapot and delivered it with a tray of rice crackers.

　　　“Anyway,” Luffy showered crumbs, “Zoro would never waste food, I can tell you that.”

　　　“Oh, please, no.” Nami shuddered, slapping Luffy's hand from her few sequestered crackers. “Do not tell the onigiri story again.”

　　　“Onigiri story?” Sanji perked despite himself, sinking down next to Nami. It had always frustrated him to see Zoro snub the finest gourmet desserts yet light up at a simple ball of rice, so if there was some deeper meaning there, he was, begrudgingly, curious.

　　　“I'm in Shells Town,” Luffy leveled his hand at Sanji. Nami groaned. “I find Zoro tied up in the middle of a marine base.”

　　　Sanji barked with laughter. “You're joking.”

　　　Luffy grinned.

　　　“Nope. Anyway, I ask him if he’s good, and he tells me to buzz off because he has to stay tied up there for thirty days, no food, or they’re gonna attack the town.”

　　　Luffy’s words rang in Sanji’s ears and his smile dropped.

　　　Luffy continued, oblivious.

　　　“This kid from town, Rika, she runs up and tries to give him some onigiri,” He took a long slurp of tea, “Because at this point it’s been nine days and he hasn’t eaten a single thing, but he tells her to buzz off, too, ‘cause he doesn’t want the marines to see. Then this guy Helmeppo comes out- boy was he a real asshole- but he’s actually kinda chill now, I think? Have you met him? He’s Coby’s friend, so he can’t be that bad.”

　　　Sanji’s hands had started shaking.

　　　“Anyway, Helmeppo sees her trying to feed him and takes the onigiri, only she made them with sugar so he stomps them to bits right in front of her. And Zoro. And me. It was nasty.” He made a face. Nami had her head in her hands. “Anyway, finally Helmeppo leaves, and Zoro scares Rika off. But then guess what?”

　　　Sanji heard his own voice, small and far-away.

　　　“What?”

　　　“He asks me to pick ‘em up off the ground and feed ‘em to him!” Luffy slapped the table like that was the funniest thing he’d ever heard and the bottom fell out of Sanji’s stomach. “I was like, dude, are you sure, this isn’t rice any more, this is like… dirt sugar paste, but Zoro was all no it’s fine I swear, so I popped ‘em right in.” He aimed a finger down his maw. “And he did it. He actually ate it. He chewed em and swallowed and everything.” Luffy laid his hands flat on the table, his cheeks split into a huge, warming grin. “And he says, ‘tell her they were great.’ And that’s when I decided Zoro was going to be on my crew.” He nodded to himself for a second before blinking. “And that he didn’t waste food.”

　　　Nami was bemoaning how many times she’d had to hear that story, shuddering at the texture of dirt-rice-paste, and Luffy was laughing and trying to steal her crackers again and Sanji wasn’t hearing any of it, really.

　　　Zoro?

　　　Zoro tried going a month without food?

　　　Thirty days had Sanji ready to do the unthinkable for a bite of mouldy bread.

　　　Zoro would do that by choice, for a town of people he’d never met?

　　　Zoro. Zoro was. Zoro was selfless. Zoro was kind and warm and gave himself and his dreams to anyone who asked for them because he was a good person, Zoro was good, Zoro was good and strong and vulnerable and he would waste his life on Sanji if he asked him.

　　　Oh, it clicked.

　　　Everything was clicking.

　　　The brief searing flashes of _bad_ burst through and flooded him, his skin prickling and burning all over as his hands trembled and gripped into fists and it was never anger, or sadness, or even fear it was shame, he was ashamed, worms of guilt crawling up from his stomach and cramming behind his teeth that he dared aspire to a man who was everything Sanji wanted to be without trying, a man who made real sacrifices following a real dream for a noble reason and not chasing fairytales. A relationship? With Zoro? Relationships were give and take and he had nothing to offer, nothing but a promise to hold Zoro back, keep him from greatness and he knew it, he’d always known it, but he was weak and cracked and took Zoro’s first to confuse him with feelings he shouldn’t feel and now he’d taken Zoro’s heart, too. Robbed him of a lover who could raise him up instead. He was meant to be safe.

　　　His father was right, he was useless.

　　　He was useless!

　　　He was useless!

　　　He was burning up.

　　　Sanji must have made a sound because both Luffy and Nami were looking at him now, but he forced himself to stand and stagger to the pantry, barely managing to pull the door behind him.

 

 

　　　The pantry was the closest Sanji had to a personal room on the Sunny. Nobody ever came there except him, unless he told them to, and he could spend hours meticulously arranging and rearranging everything just to his liking. Everything here was under his control.

　　　The door clicked open and warm light bathed the space he could see through the crates he’d curled between.

　　　“Cook?”

　　　Sanji closed his eyes.

　　　Zoro stepped into the room, slow, measured but not defensive, casting heavy shadows as he blocked the archway. He spied Sanji and paused.

　　　“Luffy said you needed to talk to me,” He eventually tested, but didn’t move. Sanji didn’t move either.

　　　The two stayed like that for a stretched second, hanging still in the quiet, Zoro barely turned toward him and Sanji with his head tucked into his knees.

　　　“Zoro.”

　　　His voice was small and scared and Zoro melted into action, catching the door with his foot to leave only a rim of light as he fell before Sanji, not touching but staring, poised, ready to move. Sanji had started trembling again and pulled himself tighter.

　　　“How could this be what you want?” His voice was wobbling, heels of his palms pressed into his eyes, willing himself not to cry. Zoro didn’t move and Sanji started filling the silence. “You don’t understand. I never let myself think about this, Zoro, I’m not- It wouldn’t work, it couldn’t, not when you’re...” Zoro didn’t move. Sanji sucked in a breath, failing.

　　　“I’m no good for you, Zoro.”

　　　Zoro moved, his swords clacking together as he leaned in as close to Sanji as he could without touching him, quick breaths warming his cheeks, eyes right before his as Sanji lifted his chin and was caught by them. Zoro’s jaw was tense, brow trenched, the silence between them thick and sticking.

　　　He spoke.

　　　“You have been the best for me.”

　　　Sanji cried. He couldn’t help it, hot, grateful, guilty, happy, embarrassed, sad, relieved tears spilling down his cheeks and dribbling onto his knees as he undid, Zoro breaking forward to grab him and pin him to his chest and let Sanji sob into his shirt. Muffled by Zoro’s warm chest Sanji let himself be as loud as he needed, leaving everything to spill out, running all the white-hot _bad_ from his body to make room for how being with Zoro again felt so good.

　　　Zoro didn’t say a word and let him. This felt like something needed.

　　　Eventually, Sanji ran out of noise and tears, his body no longer trembling and feeling instead lighter, gentler, more free. He could hear Zoro’s heart beating where his face pressed against him. Steady and reliable.

　　　He exhaled. “So.” Zoro jumped a bit and looked down at him, still not letting go. Sanji shifted to meet his eye. “Are we dating?”

　　　Zoro glanced around the pantry nervously, as if there was a rule book hidden there somewhere.

　　　“If you want,” He traced a small circle on Sanji’s shoulder with his thumb where he held him. Sanji’s lids drooped and Zoro figured he’d done okay.

　　　“Then we’re dating,” Sanji barely whispered. He heard Zoro’s heart quicken for a few beats and smiled.

　　　“Wonder what the others will say,” Zoro laughed, quietly, and Sanji chuckled too.

　　　“We’re so happy for you guys,”  
　　　Luffy yelled from outside.

 

 

　　　“Dating” was an odd term to use when they didn't manage to go on any actual dates. There was nowhere for them to go out to, still at sea, and it was almost impossible to be alone during the day without someone accidentally or very intentionally interrupting them. And to an outside observer, their dynamic hadn't changed much. They still argued, fought, laughed, and chatted as easily as they had before, drifting in and out of each other's company as they filled their roles on the ship.

　　　But they made their own time for each other. When Sanji delivered the ladies their drinks he’d let his eyes drag over Zoro's exercising form, intentionally now instead of his usual sly peeks, and when Zoro caught him they'd both smiled at each other with a look that had Nami rolling her eyes into her orange juice. When Sanji went to announce lunch he'd still woken Zoro with a kick to the shoulder, but after Zoro - feigning sleep - caught his ankle and threw him off-balance, Sanji had recovered to plant a kiss on his cheek that stupefied the smile off his face. And later that night, both free and headed to their respective hammocks, they'd lingered there with hands on the wooden bunks until Sanji wordlessly stepped over and stood by Zoro's. It was snug, but it worked, and Sanji would swear the night spent curved next to Zoro's chainsaw snoring and incredible body heat was the best sleep he'd ever had.

 

　　　Franky poked his head into the galley to let Sanji know it was his turn for lookout duty then ducked right back out before he could respond. Sanji narrowed his eyes. That was the fourth night in a row he or Zoro had been rostered on, and while he appreciated the crew’s not-so-subtle efforts to give them some time alone, he’d have to have a word with Nami about it as soon as it stopped being fun.

　　　While he was sure the whole crew was expecting them to make like rabbits, the first night, when Sanji had slipped up to surprise Zoro with two glasses and a bottle, had actually been chaste. Their relationship was deeper than that, now, and a night spent simply enjoying each other's company proved it. Nothing was more perfect for a relationship founded on sex.

　　　The second night it happened, it had been reassuring. They were proving it was sustainable, comfortable, their fingers laced together in peaceful silence.

　　　The third had been kind of annoying.

　　　Sanji stretched his long legs across one of the benches lining the nest-slash-gym walls and waited. The last time Zoro had initiated any physical contact at all had been in the pantry, and before that was the silent treatment since Water Seven, so it’d been over a week since they’d last fooled around. He was getting impatient.

　　　Sanji knew Zoro was holding back on purpose. At first, he’d thought Zoro was nervous, wary of being rejected again, and so Sanji let him set the pace. Especially since he was trying to prove to Zoro that he didn’t just want sex any more. But as the days went by, Sanji realised that when Zoro bristled at his touch, when he startled at the smallest kiss, when he could feel the heat from Zoro’s restless body as they stood too close it wasn’t because he was afraid; Zoro was the one holding himself back. He was desperate to touch Sanji, practically bursting at the seams to grab him and hold him, but he was stopping himself, and Sanji didn’t blame him - not considering the way he reacted the last time Zoro tried to initiate. But he was ready to prove that wouldn’t be a problem now.

　　　Sanji heard the now-familiar sound of the hatch clicking open and grinned as a green head poked through.

　　　They sat side-by-side for a while, talking and laughing and bickering about the day they’d all had between long, mutual stretches of silence. Sanji had taken Zoro’s hand in his, who’d squeezed it back, and their shoulders were pressed tight with temples resting on each other’s. After another long pause, Sanji smiled.

　　　“So,” He began, turning and gently brushing his lips against Zoro’s cheek. Zoro stiffened but gripped Sanji’s hand tighter. Sanji kissed his cheek again, softer, lingering, then kissed the underside of his jaw and waited, feeling Zoro’s body relax but still hold itself in place. Sanji's own heart thudded in anticipation.

　　　The hand he had gripping Zoro’s slowly let go, ghosting over his wrist and up to his shoulder, delighting Sanji with a full-body shiver from Zoro.

　　　“I was thinking,” Sanji murmured, feeling Zoro lift just a bit, “I never really apologised.”

　　　“Naturally.” Zoro’s laugh spread warmth through his hair and his heart. He smiled. “What for,” Zoro’s voice had gone quieter.

　　　“Being such a stubborn asshole,” He heard Zoro inhale to respond, “Yeah, _naturally_ , I know.” Zoro chuckled. Sanji kissed his jaw again and Zoro couldn’t help but lean a little closer, his shoulders hunching in towards Sanji, pressing in for more. Sanji rewarded him by trailing the kisses up to his earrings, the soft chime of them hitting against each other as Sanji kissed the shell of his ear rewarding him with another bodily shudder and an actual, quiet gasp. “I still need to make it up to you.” Sanji whispered, making him jerk.

　　　“You don’t have to do any-” Zoro was cut short as Sanji slid, in one swift movement, to swivel so he was crouched squarely before him, perched between his two spread knees. He slipped his hands up to grip the inside of Zoro’s thighs and met his wide, stunned stare with a smile.

　　　“Let me make it up to you.”

　　　Sanji’s voice dripped like it hadn’t for a week and Zoro’s reaction was immediate.

　　　“You’d better,” He bluffed.

　　　Of all the things they'd done, all the wild sex, the tender sex, Sanji had never really given Zoro a blow job. The pretense between them had been just intimate enough that a sloppy mouth-fuck wouldn’t work but not intimate enough for anything else. Sanji pressed his face into Zoro’s crotch, kissing his stiffening erection through his trousers, hot breaths seeping through to his skin. Right now, it sounded perfect.

　　　Zoro hissed as his cock was freed to the air but kept his eyes on Sanji's, the hunger he saw building behind them only getting him harder. Sanji broke away just to press his lips against Zoro's shaft, making him grunt and jerk his hips, but glanced up again as he licked a hot, steady line up his vein to tease where his foreskin gave way to the head. When Zoro screwed up his face, eyes clenched and jaw set, Sanji smiled and got to work.

　　　Zoro's thighs twitched in his palms as he kissed around the sensitive ridge. When he pressed his lips to the head, running a wet tongue around it before finally bobbing to take almost half his length in his mouth Zoro's composure slipped and he swore, sending a rush of heat to Sanji's own building erection. He'd deal with that later. He popped his mouth from Zoro's cock with a wet gasp, just barely teasing the tip with agonizing kisses until Zoro's eyes were forced open again, and with his gaze recaptured Sanji pressed the whole length of his tongue against Zoro's shaft and lowered his head on it as far as it would go. Zoro looked like he might come right there.

　　　Sanji moaned deliberately and relished Zoro's response to the vibrations. He grabbed at Zoro's hand to bury it in his blond hair, then gave it the slightest push as he slid his mouth further down Zoro's shaft. Zoro got the idea. Sanji's next moan was instinct as Zoro gripped hold of him, pulling his head in time to his hips, directing him to where he wanted him. This was what Sanji needed. He slipped a shaky hand to his own belt, freeing his cock and palming it through his underwear as Zoro picked up the pace. He wanted to be used by Zoro, to feel wanted, to finally give something back to him.

　　　Zoro was getting carried away and a particularly eager thrust had Sanji nearly gagging. He knew he should probably tap out and teach Zoro proper BJ etiquette - he'd want to know - but there would be time enough for that later; Sanji preferred it rough, and as Zoro brought his other hand to grasp Sanji’s hair, shoving his head forward with such enthusiasm it brought tears to his eyes, he could only moan louder while rewarding Zoro with an eager tongue as he jerked his own throbbing cock.

　　　Zoro came without warning, as Sanji’d guessed he would, and the hot, desperate cum shooting onto his tongue and down his throat burning at his nose just pushed him over the edge, whimpering into Zoro's crotch as he shot his own load through his fingers and onto the nest floor.

　　　Zoro let his hands flop away weakly and Sanji coughed, lewdly savoring the mixture of spittle and cum pooling off as he pulled from Zoro's cock. He gazed up at him, reverently, watching him regain his composure, basking in his face and how handsome it looked as it unknotted and how he was allowed to think Zoro was handsome, now. Now that they were dating.

　　　He hoisted himself up to land across Zoro's lap, Zoro barely supporting them both as he snapped out of his stupor. He noted Sanji's puffy eyes with some concern.

　　　"Uh, fuck," He panted, "Did I fuck up?" Sanji laughed and waved his hand, a sleepy smile helping Zoro relax.

　　　"I'll teach you. Later." He couldn't meet Zoro's eyes when he said it. Even after everything, he couldn't shake the gnawing pit in his stomach telling him he wasn't good enough for this, that he was fooling the both of them, just another person taking from Zoro without giving anything in return. But as Zoro pressed his lips back to the top of Sanji’s head, planting kisses between breaths, Sanji resolutely chased out those thoughts. His own doubts here were worthless. Zoro had already made his choice, and if Sanji could trust anyone’s conviction, it was Zoro’s. Whatever reared its head in their future adventures they would be there to face it together.


	6. Thriller Bark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened after The Thing. Short and clean.

　　　Sanji stood in the Thousand Sunny's medical bay, smoking a cigarette in the corner of the room, Zoro staring at the ceiling as an IV dripped into his arm.

　　　"Chopper would kill you if he saw that," Zoro tried to joke, but Sanji just fixed him with a glare that told him he wasn't in the mood.

　　　"That was fucking stupid." Sanji spat. Zoro didn't flinch.

　　　"I had to."

　　　"Don't you ever do that again."

　　　"I will."

　　　Zoro set his jaw and met Sanji's fierce, angry gaze. He could read the fury on his face, read how much he wanted to hate him right then, how scared he was underneath it all. He'd downplayed everything in front of the rest of the crew, and for that Zoro was grateful, but not sorry. Sanji's scowl deepened.

　　　"You should've let me take it instead."

　　　"No."

　　　"You had no right to go deciding on your own," He yelled, stomping angrily to the bed in one long, quick stride. "You didn't even give me a choice."

　　　"You know it had to be-" Sanji cut him off with a frustrated, wordless roar.

　　　" _ Why!? _ Why do you always think that? Why do you think it has to be you who sacrifices himself for everyone else?" He pounded his fist on the rolling table, sending instruments flying. Zoro didn't flinch. "You shitty, fucked-up, third-rate swordsman, you... Any one of us would take your place! You think you’re the only one ready to die for Luffy?" Zoro's face twisted for the first time.

　　　"Nobody died, that was the  _ point _ ." He snarled. "I did it because I could. And you know what? Fuck you! I am the only one who could've taken that without kicking it. If you'd had your way, Luffy would be dead and so would..." He trailed off, glaring at Sanji's figure as he hunched over the table. He wanted to hate him at that moment, too. They stewed for a minute, time marked by the steady drip of the IV. A sob broke the silence and Zoro's stomach turned.

　　　Sanji composed himself, gripping the table even tighter, and Zoro still wasn't sorry but he ached. He wished he were sorry. He wished he could give Sanji that.

　　　"What if you had died, Zoro?" Sanji asked, calmly, voice leveled by practice. "What would Luffy do without you?" Zoro watched him. He hadn't thought about it. Or, he hadn't let himself think about it, because that wouldn't have helped anyone at the time. He hadn't thought about Luffy, he hadn't thought about the crew, and he hadn't thought about why Sanji was really asking.

　　　Sanji sighed and finally turned, lifting his half-ash cigarette to his lips, a tinge of red around his eyes. He caught Zoro's gaze again and they stared into each other in uneasy silence.

　　　"You know the first thing I thought when I saw you?" He continued, slightly hoarse, smoke slipping from his lips. "When I saw you standing there, still as a statue, covered in blood and dirt and whoever the fuck knows." He went for another drag but laughed out a cough instead. "I thought to myself, I thought, fuck, Zoro's dead, and I never told him I love him."

　　　Zoro's eyes widened and for the first time he felt the ghost of regret before he quashed it. He swallowed.

　　　"You know I love you too, right," He blurted, and Sanji smiled into his cigarette. Of course that was all Zoro heard.

　　　"Yeah." He scuffed the floor as he hovered awkwardly by the bed. It was unfair to stalk around the room too much; the asshole could barely turn his head in his current state. He fidgeted with a corner of the bedsheet for a second before skimming over to grasp Zoro's few unbandaged fingers, feeling him squeeze right back as hard as he could. It wasn't very hard and Sanji exhaled with a tremble.

　　　"I'd do it again," Zoro warned, locked to Sanji's face. Sanji didn't look back, eyes unfocused, and simply nodded.

　　　"I know.” He smiled wryly. “Marimo." Zoro tried to laugh without hurting himself too much.

　　　"Swirly brow."

　　　Sanji leaned down to gently kiss him, trying not to let him feel he was shaking only to feel Zoro was shaking too. They stayed pressed together, hand in hand, lips to lips, and Sanji wished he could pour all the energy he was wasting on dread and panic and regret and anger out through his kiss into Zoro instead. He only pulled away when Zoro got a little cheeky, slipping in tongue with a grin, and Sanji straightened, reminding him - and, if he was honest, himself - that Zoro was in no condition for anything more. They would have plenty of time for that when his stitches were fully healed.

 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

 

　　　Two years was a long time.


	7. Fishman Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanji and Zoro reunite briefly on Sabaody after the time skip, but don't see much of each other until after Fishman Island. Sanji has a bone to pick.

　　　Sanji had everything planned perfectly. First, he was going to rescue Zoro from whatever trouble he inevitably got himself into on Sabaody and blow his mind with Sky Walk. Following that, he was going to flash his handsome new facial hair and his honed physique, taunting Zoro and staying out of his grasp until he begged him for forgiveness. Then, and only then, was he going to grab his hand and drag him to the nearest bubbly hotel to fuck his mossy brains out.

　　　That plan went up in foam the minute Zoro rose out of the water.

　　　Eye?  _ Eye!? _ Was it still there, or was it completely fucked? Could he open it at all? Did he do it to himself, or had someone actually gotten the better of him-? What the hell happened while he was away?

　　　“Let’s go, number seven,” Zoro had drolled, wandering off in the completely wrong direction, and Sanji’s mind was vacated even of that as he aimed a kick at the back of his head.

 

 

　　　Doppelgangers happened. Pacifistas happened. Mermaids and Vander Decken and Hody Jones happened. By the time the Straw Hats were given any time to relax and reconnect it was all over, the royal palace alive with music and laughter and damn good seafood as the celebration in their honour stayed strong into the night.

　　　Sanji thanked the seahorse fishman who had escorted him out for some “fresh air”, even though the air piped to the bubbled-off courtyard for the humans’ benefit was the same as used in the castle. But that hadn’t been the point. His real objective, as he stumbled over coral-coloured pavers that seemed to ripple in the miraculous, dappled moonlight, had been to get away from Zoro.

　　　He’d spent all night trying to get his attention, trying not to appear too eager but also not so subtle Zoro wouldn’t notice. But Zoro had been more interested in the alcohol, and the food, and of course the stories of all his other crewmates. That was all normal. Sanji hadn’t wanted to presume he would be Zoro’s only priority. Or even his top priority, as he grinned along with Zoro and Luffy knocking drinks. He’d been happy to wait for whenever he would catch Zoro’s eye and they’d share that all-too-familiar smirk that signalled they were about to sneak off and away together.

　　　But it never came.

　　　Sanji grabbed for the limestone wall as he almost lost his balance and it felt so nice and so cool he had to press his face against it. He wasn’t drunk. He could totally hold his alcohol. But as it got harder and harder to downtalk his paranoia he’d maybe had a few more drinks than he planned. The truth, the truth he couldn't keep ignoring, was that Zoro obviously wasn’t interested in him any more.

　　　Two years was looong. Long as shit! People changed so much in that time, they came back walking on air and missing an eye and not in love after all. That had always been a possibility and Sanji had always been prepared for it, he had been. He had. What else was he supposed to think, after…?

　　　He’d be okay with it. He’d distract himself with those beautiful Mermaid Cafe Dancers, they were totally into him, he was exotic down here on the ocean floor. They thought legs were funny and he sure had some legs. Ah, but Zoro was back there, too, and if he went now he knew he’d just end up staring at how good his hair looked pushed back like that and thinking he’d somehow managed to get even broader and bulkier and raking his eyes over and over and over again down that fresh scar.

　　　“Why am I so pathetic?” Sanji mumbled against the stone. “I thought I was finally done running.” He knew he wasn’t going to get any answers until he asked. Torturing himself over this wasn’t going to get him any closure; he might as well get it over with.

　　　He clenched his eyes and gritted his teeth, planting a hand against the stone to push off and head back to the party when he was planted straight back by strong, warm, broad hands.

　　　His voice caught in his throat as he felt a matured but unmistakable body press up against his, hot breath against his ear, hard kisses laying into his neck. The hands had moved from his back to slip all over his body, untucking clothes to touch the skin and hair underneath.

　　　"Zoro," He wanted to grunt, but knew it came out as a desperate whine.

　　　"Too long." Was the only answer he got. He managed to wrench his torso free to twist and kiss Zoro, throwing arms around his neck and shoving his tongue further down his lover's throat. The response made him want to laugh for ever being worried. "Tried to get you alone, shitty cook," Zoro panted against his lips. "Pay more attention."

　　　"What the hell, no," Sanji stammered as Zoro's lips found his neck again. "I was trying to get  _ your _ attention, you shh-shitty moss-" He couldn't finish his half-hearted retort as Zoro ground a knee up into his groin, letting himself just moan and fall onto Zoro's shoulder. It had been so long and he was so desperate he felt like he was going to burst already. Zoro tugged Sanji's face closer for another kiss but stalled, peering at him, then shoved his other hand up through his bangs to brush them aside. Sanji sputtered and tried to shake him off but he let go as quickly as he'd grabbed.

　　　"Just had to check," Zoro muttered back into their kiss and Sanji felt blush spreading to his ears.

　　　"Fuck you, that's my line," He breathed, but smothered anxious kisses all over his face, all over his eye, all over that scar. Zoro seemed to soften at the touch before attacking his neck again, then swooped over to his collarbone, down his chest, his swords clattering together as he dropped heavily and hungrily to his knees.

　　　Sanji writhed happily, watching, burying a hand in his green hair. Fuck, this was good. Zoro didn't blow him that often, but when he did, it was spectacular. All might be forgiven after this. Zoro breathed kisses into Sanji's stomach, drunk fingers struggling with his belt, but he finally succeeded and took up Sanji's half-hard member while he kissed the dense hair at the base. Sanji bit his lip. This was it. He almost didn't care about everything he'd endured over those two years, the loneliness, the insecurity, nope, all of it was about to melt away into nothing as-

　　　"Why didn't you reply to my letters?" He panted, grimacing at himself. Zoro halted, tongue extended for Sanji's tip, staring up at him with one fierce eye. The rage Sanji saw flash through it nearly had him apologizing.

　　　" _ What letters, _ " He finally menaced. Sanji blinked, then sighed, then laughed. Of course he'd considered it possible Zoro never received them, but he didn’t let himself actually  _ believe _ it. That would be too optimistic. He shook his head and buried his hand in Zoro's hair again.

　　　"Oh, nothing, nothing, just- Heard a rumor about where you might be, did some digging, got an address," He gushed, relief and alcohol making his knees week. "Sent one, maybe two, just to see if you were okay- But it's nothing, you didn't get them, it's fine-" He tried to nudge Zoro closer to his cock but he was riveted like stone.

　　　"Shit," Zoro growled, brow furrowing as his eye darted trying to think what could've happened. "Never got them. I would've," He started, turning his gaze back to Sanji's.

　　　"I believe you," Sanji patted his cheek fervently.

　　　"I swear, if I'd known, I would've replied to all-"

　　　"For the love of God, Zoro," Sanji cried, then stifled into a frustrated whine, "Please just keep going." Zoro blinked for a second, as if he'd forgotten that Sanji's poor neglected erection was still clutched in his hand. He looked at it, then Sanji's flushed face, and grinned a devilish smile before swallowing him to the hilt.

　　　Sanji didn't care he'd cracked the back of his head on the limestone wall as he jutted his hips into Zoro's mouth and melted into the warmth of his skilled tongue. God, how he’d missed this. Sanji had fashioned some pretty inventive tools to help him through the past 24 months, but nothing could compare to Zoro's hot, wet throat, his tongue pressed dutifully under the length of his shaft.

　　　"Fuck, yes," He breathed, hands tangled uselessly in Zoro's hair as Zoro did all the work, bobbing his head up and down on Sanji's length with a string of lewd, wet noises. They'd found Zoro's three-sword-style had an unintended effect on his gag reflex that left Sanji coming undone as he was swallowed deep as Zoro could go. When Sanji forced his eyes open and caught sight of Zoro grinning back up at him, urging himself even further until his nose and lips were crushed against his crotch, he wouldn't have cared if Zoro used those letters to wipe his ass.

　　　"Zoro, I'm gonna come," he warned, and Zoro only laughed, Sanji barely holding on through the hum. “I mean it-" Sanji yanked at his hair and Zoro pulled off, a glob of spit and precum dribbling down his chin to the courtyard pavers. Sanji fell to his knees before him, tasting himself on their loose, desperate kiss.

　　　"Should've just come," Zoro grunted through it, kneading Sanji's back as his erection bobbed up between them. Sanji shook his head.

　　　"Not like that," He panted, then leaned away and onto his elbows, stroking himself languidly. "You think I'm going to let you off that easy?" Zoro tore away from Sanji's cock to his face, a thumb dragging across his lip to catch any drool, and mirrored his grin as he clambered over the top of his lover. He fumbled to hike the skirt of his coat in lieu of failing with buttons while grinding his hips into Sanji's beneath him. Sanji couldn't see through the layers of fabric but he could feel Zoro was just as hard as he was.

　　　Sanji was all hands, bumbling underneath the coat to try and figure out where his pants started, finally finding a waistband and slipping underneath around that familiar girth with a satisfied sigh. Zoro grunted and bucked into his hand, but composed himself, rummaging for something in his pockets he finally found and tossed to Sanji.

　　　"Coconut oil," Sanji grinned, slipping his other fingers behind Zoro's package to probe for his entrance. "How nostalgic. You came prepared."

　　　"Didn't want to waste any chances," Zoro's smirk slipped for just a second when Sanji found and pressed a fingertip to his hole but he laughed to cover his grunt. "Like seeing you sneak off here to cry. What, you missed me that much?"

　　　"I wasn't crying," Sanji prodded more, defiant.

　　　"But you did miss me," Zoro shot back, pressing himself against Sanji's cock, teasing him. Sanji gritted his teeth but kept his eyes locked on Zoro's. Flush prickled up Zoro's chest.

　　　"Every day," Sanji murmured under his breath, and Zoro faltered, bravado slipping a bit as it always did before Sanji's honesty. He fell heavily onto his hands and into a kiss as Sanji quickly slicked his fingers with lube, noting with some satisfaction as he prepped him that he was already a little loose; Zoro must've got himself ready even before the party, the thought of which got him even harder.

　　　Zoro pulled from their kiss sooner than anticipated and pressed his hips needily onto Sanji's fingers, licking their spit from his lips. Sanji merely raised an eyebrow with a smirk and steadied his cock, working together to position Zoro over and down, slowly, onto it. Sanji let his eyes close in bliss, sinking back into that familiar tightness and heat, to be one with Zoro again. Zoro let a low, throaty moan slip as he bottomed, flush with Sanji's hips, his face slack in satisfaction.

　　　He started moving with surprising readiness and Sanji let his head loll back, his hands slipping to his partner's hips. Zoro wasn't normally on top like this, but he seemed to know what he was doing, rounding his hips with a short, steady rhythm and the occasional twist. Sanji moaned. It felt... Fine? He frowned for a second, trying but failing to match Zoro's pace, who also didn't try to match his. He peeked. Zoro had braced himself on his hands behind him, legs splayed unceremoniously to the sides, working himself on Sanji's cock at an angle that looked like it did everything for him but very, very little for Sanji.

　　　"Hey," Sanji slurred, jostling his hips to shake Zoro out of his rhythm. His one eye snapped back open and he stalled for a second, jaw gritting into something close to embarrassment, like he’d caught himself. "Are you fucking me, or are you fucking yourself  _ on _ me?"

　　　"Whoops," Zoro shrugged with an unapologetic grin, but still adjusted his foothold to be closer to Sanji and braced his hands on either side of his shoulders instead. "Force of habit." Sanji raised an eyebrow.

　　　"What’s that mean?" His frown softened a little as Zoro kissed along his jawline.

　　　"I had to do something while the real thing was gone." He murmured, resuming his thrusts onto Sanji's cock, slower, deliberate, mutual. Sanji bit back a whimper as Zoro's thumbs padded around his nipples and he grasped the nape of Zoro's hair.

　　　"What'd you use...?" He murmured, failing to hide how much the image of Zoro with a toy turned him on. Zoro just gave a low chuckle and tensed around his cock, making them both jerk.

　　　"I'll show you."

　　　Sanji jolted. "Seriously?"

　　　"Later." Zoro kissed him again, quickening the pace, and Sanji grabbed his hips with revitalised strength. He reveled as he felt Zoro come a little more undone, too, and bucked up into him, hoping he'd remembered where to angle himself. He had. Zoro grunted around their tongues, then moaned, rolling his hips with every thrust, as if trying to melt into Sanji's body and stay there. They both knew they’d reached their limit and while it wasn't the hard, desperate, earth-shattering orgasm either of them had imagined, it was deep and undoing and finally calmed their two-year hunger, Sanji pulsing deep inside Zoro as Zoro spilled over Sanji’s stomach, both arching into the other. Sanji belatedly realised he'd heard his name from Zoro's lips, quiet, strangled, almost hesitant, and he kissed up Zoro's jaw and cheek to his ear to whisper his name over and over as they rode it out together, hands tangled in each others' hair.

　　　Sanji finally prompted Zoro to move off with a pat on his shoulders and a few murmurs of encouragement, but Zoro just shifted his hips from Sanji's with a wet  _ pop _ and flopped next to him, keeping him pinned by an arm and a leg. Sanji laughed, then gave in, rolling over slightly to hold him, smelling alcohol from the party and something new he'd picked up on his journey and under it all, the same old Zoro he'd loved and missed. God, he'd fucking missed him.

　　　He perked up suddenly, frowning at Zoro's near-unconscious face.

　　　"Wait, so you went two whole years not knowing I was trying to contact you?" Zoro snorted before opening his eye groggily.

　　　"Guess so," He mumbled, cheek squashed against the pavers. Sanji frowned.

　　　"You weren't worried?" Zoro just closed his eye again like he might fall asleep right there and Sanji considered him with a pang in his chest. He cursed himself for not realising sooner. If his letters weren't being delivered, that would’ve left Zoro just as lost as he'd felt. Just as lonely. He watched his features soften as his breathing slowed and wondered if maybe he had fallen asleep.

　　　"I love you," Zoro surprised him, calm and clear. They had only ever said that once. Sanji felt his chest swell and had to bite back hot, happy tears.

　　　"I love you." He sighed back, planting his forehead against his, and let them rest tangled together for a few more minutes before pulling them both away from sleep and back to the party.

 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

 

_ Master Dracul Mihawk, _

 

_ 　　　Arrived safely at Fishman Island. Candy is a souvenir for Perona. _

_ 　　　I must trouble you with a question. I have been informed some mail delivered to the castle during my stay could have been addressed to me. Please advise. _

 

_ 　　　　　　Roronoa Zoro _

 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

 

_ Disciple Zoro, _

 

_ 　　　Yes, certainly I did receive numerous letters and packages and threats to my castle that bore your name. After scanning the contents I discerned they would prove merely a distraction from your dedication and withheld them momentarily for your benefit. _

 

_ 　　　Sincerely, _

_ 　　　　　　Master Dracul Mihawk _

 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

 

_ Mihawk, _

 

_ 　　　I'll kill you. _

_ 　　　　　　Zoro _

 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

 

_ Disciple Zoro, _

 

_ 　　　Splendid. _

 

_ 　　　Sincerely, _

_ 　　　　　　Master Dracul Mihawk _


	8. Kuraigana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoro makes good on a promise, and the two of them make up for lost time.

　　　Sanji was pleasantly surprised to open the galley at daybreak and see Zoro already there, sat at the table with newspaper spread in front of him. He hadn't thought Zoro the type to read the news, or at all, but figured it was a habit he picked up during their time apart, and planted a kiss on his temple on his way to brew coffee for himself and tea for Zoro who’d “mm”ed in response without looking. But as Sanji passed the table, he noticed some of the pages were different colours, and sizes, and as recognition dawned over his face he shrieked and dove to meet a boot in the face.

　　　"No! Stop! Give them back!" Sanji scrambled for his letters, an embarrassing number open on the table and an even more embarrassing stack still sealed. Definitely more than one or two. Zoro kicked him away without taking eyes off the page in his hands.

　　　"They're mine now," He drawled, and Sanji gave up, slouching with humiliation to the counter. Some of them would be fine - he'd even read them _to_ Zoro if he wanted, as foreplay - but others... He eyed over the mountain on the table with dread. The magnitude alone was embarrassing, especially considering he hadn't received a single reply.

　　　It had taken him a few weeks to hear rumblings of the famous "Pirate Hunter Roronoa" training with one of the Seven Warlords, and a few more weeks to track down how marines sent the Warlords their official correspondence. For three months, under the pseudonym “Mister Prince”, he’d sent one status report every fortnight. Just to let him know he was alive.

　　　That turned into one letter a week, sometimes two, and they slowly became less perfunctory and more a marriage of penpal and journal. Of course, since Zoro never got them, he never responded, but Sanji hadn’t known that so near the end of the first year he’d snapped, reflected in a stack of hastily-scribbled, angrily crumpled sheets. Those were the ones he wanted to burn.

　　　He’d sworn he wouldn’t write any more after that. He had, of course, but they’d dwindled, and in the last three months he’d sent just one, in their final week apart. It had been short, and detached, and he remembered most of it - about his plans for navigating back to Sabaody, his estimated arrival, and how he'd expected to see Zoro. He had wanted it to sound professional. He was sure it sounded tragic.

　　　Sanji resolved himself to breakfast and let Zoro read his damn letters. He'd waited long enough. He couldn't help glancing to try and gauge Zoro’s reactions but he held mostly the same stoic mask, sometimes mouthing words. Occasionally the corners of his mouth would tighten as he set a letter aside and Sanji felt a pang for the guilt and accusations laced into the more desperate months, while other times his brow would rocket up and Sanji scrambled to remember what horny mess he'd thrown in the mail that day. It took too many hours, and three cups of tea, but Zoro finally checked the back of the last page of the last letter before tucking it neatly into its envelope then adding it to the towering pile. He leaned back, palms flat against the table, disfocused. Sanji watched him carefully over a skillet of eggs.

　　　After a while Zoro stood, paused, then gathered all the letters back into the crate they had been shipped in - Sanji peered at the sparkly ghosts drawn all over it - and carried it with him back out of the galley. Sanji tried not to let his heart jump out of his throat with panic and focus instead on plating up breakfast, but could hardly contain himself when Zoro strolled back in, a small package wrapped in white muslin tucked under his arm.

　　　Zoro came to rest against the counter next to him and Sanji forced himself to look only to melt under his gaze. Zoro was looking at him with such fullness, a smile on his lips so small it could barely be seen but somehow still warmed his whole face, like he could laugh without moving. Sanji felt so known, and at peace, locked under that reverence, that it took him almost a minute to look away.

　　　"I got a bit dramatic," He scoffed, plating up some mushroom omelettes. Zoro laughed and nodded down at his feet.

　　　"Sounds like you had a real hard time over there," He teased, and Sanji rolled his eyes. "Surrounded by all those eager, strong bodies..." Sanji smacked his shoulder and grabbed the pepper grinder.

　　　"How about you?" Sanji countered, adding some finishing touches for the hungry crew soon to burst through the doors. "All alone on an island with Mihawk, must have been awfully tempting-" Zoro caught his arm as he reached over for some cutlery and brandished the wrapped package. Sanji eyed it suspiciously.

　　　"Firstly, we weren’t alone," Zoro's eyes went distant as if remembering something annoying. "And either way, there was only one guy I wanted on that island with me, but I had to make do." He held up the package dramatically and Sanji frowned at it, then him, touched but not really seeing a connection. Zoro sighed, then huddled over, peeling off the muslin so Sanji could peek at what was inside.

　　　"Zoro!" Sanji hissed, slamming his hands over the parcel and whipping to check the door. Flush crept up his neck at Zoro's impish grin. "Are you serious, asshole? Everyone will be in here for breakfast soon."

　　　"You said you wanted to see," Zoro hummed, unwrapping the toy. Sanji stepped bodily between it and the door but couldn't help staring. It was made of a dark wood, hand-whittled, he guessed by Zoro himself, sealed with some inky lacquer. There was something carved crudely into the bottom of the flared base and he tentatively ran a finger over it.

　　　"A spiral?" He wondered aloud, a little heated as he realised what he was touching and how it had been used.

　　　"A dartboard," Zoro leaned in closer, breath tickling his ear. "See the resemblance?" He dropped the toy loosely down to hang between Sanji’s legs and Sanji balked. Now that he looked, it did have a similar slenderness, and the curve to the left was uncanny.

　　　"You sure made it flattering," Sanji muttered, trying to hide his embarrassment. Zoro hefted it back to eye height to inspect.

　　　"You think?" He pondered before kissing at Sanji's ear. "The real thing feels bigger." Sanji swallowed a grunt and pushed him back before they got carried away- just in time, because the door swung open and Usopp and Luffy tumbled in, ravenous, so Sanji redirected them to the food while gesturing wildly for Zoro to cover it back up. Zoro grinned and obliged, slipping back through the door, but not before shooting Sanji a knowing glance and waving the package in his direction, laughing silently at the flush radiating up his neck.

　　　Sanji would get him for that.

 

 

　　　“Ah, ah.” The thin stream of smoke lazed up from Sanji’s cigarette, held barely in his fingers, an afterthought. His eyebrow hitched higher and his smile grew wider. “Did I say you could go faster?”

　　　“Pervert,” Zoro grumbled into his own shoulder, but he did slow his hand again.

　　　“Good boy.”

　　　Zoro grit his teeth and shot a glare between his knees at him. Sanji was sat on a bench across the nest, a frustrating distance, and even though his legs were loosely crossed his erection was still readily apparent. Zoro didn’t look at it. Sanji uncrossed his legs. Zoro kept not looking at it, his eyes fixed on Sanji’s, refusing to give him the satisfaction. Sanji’s grin sharpened.

　　　“I think you’re ready now, don’t you?” His voice was half-song like it got whenever he knew he was truly getting under Zoro’s skin, one way or another, and Zoro rolled his eyes but still dutifully slipped his fingers out from where he had been stretching himself. He’d tried not to seem eager, to give Sanji the satisfaction, but grabbed for the home-made toy too quickly and heard the tiniest huff under Sanji’s breath. Zoro’s head snapped towards him.

　　　“What.” A threat, not a question. Sanji pressed his lips together in a wonky line that couldn’t hide his smile at all.

　　　“Nothing.” He practically was singing now. Zoro grabbed the toy and their lube in a huff, busying his attention.

　　　“What’re you laughing for? This was your idea, ero-cook,” He muttered, hunched, but still working to slick the dark wood.

　　　“I seem to recall you were the one who wanted to show me,” Sanji punctuated his drawl by flicking the ash from his cigarette, bastardishly. Zoro let a heavy thunk do his talking as he flopped back over and chose to ignore Sanji, instead teasing the toy’s crudely-shaped head at his entrance.

　　　“Slowly,” Sanji interrupted and Zoro stalled, snapping annoyed eyes to Sanji’s who was watching heavily back, cigarette to his lips.

　　　“I’m doing the work, I set the rules,” Zoro tried, pushing the toy and his luck.

　　　“Oh, I’m sorry, you want me to leave?” Sanji gestured to himself, aghast, eyes round with mock sincerity.

　　　“Would go a lot faster if you did.”

　　　“Alright,” Sanji swiveled and stood, arms in his pants pockets and Zoro dropped the toy as he stammered.

　　　“Wait-”

　　　He cursed himself as soon as Sanji leered down at him, a devil dressed in an angel’s suit, then slowly retraced to the bench, flopping back down as he kept Zoro pinned to the nest floor with an unflinching eye, knees spread, arousal obvious. Zoro swallowed.

　　　“Slowly.”

　　　Zoro pressed the head of the toy against himself again, lips bitten behind his teeth. He didn’t know why this felt so embarrassing. He’d done this to himself so many times on Kuraigana he’d lost count, and Sanji had witnessed plenty of what was basically the same thing. Been the one doing it, even. But there was something different about doing it to himself, and having Sanji be completely focused on watching, without the distraction of actually fucking him.

　　　Maybe embarrassing was the wrong word. He didn’t _not_ want to do it.

　　　The head of the toy slipped past and the next inch followed easily. Zoro’s lips fell open at the familiar sensation, and he saw Sanji’s knees jerk but he otherwise stayed resolute, attention steady. Zoro didn’t know how ‘slowly’ Sanji wanted so he went as slow as he could bear - not very - in shared, hitched silence until he could tell he was almost halfway in.

　　　“Stop.” Sanji’s voice was clear and sudden and pulled Zoro from the routine he was falling back into. He forced himself to look back down at his partner, who was otherwise unmoved, and frowned.

　　　“I can take it,” He grunted.

　　　“I’m sure.” Sanji grinned, fidgeting his cigarette between his thumb and forefinger. “You can fuck yourself now. Just don’t go any deeper than that, okay?” Zoro’s frown furthered as he kept staring at Sanji. He wasn’t sure he liked being bossed around like this, especially when he was the one putting in all the effort. But he also knew Sanji’s threat to leave was very real, and he didn’t want that, so he settled for rolling his eyes again and leaned his head back against the floor as he inched the toy back out to start thrusting.

　　　“Slowly!”

　　　Zoro was going to kill him. … After.

　　　This wasn’t going to get Zoro off. On Kuraigana, by the time he’d gotten desperate enough to pull out the Love Cock - he thought it might’ve ruined the moment if he’d told the love cook about that earlier - it was because he needed it hard and fast to get him over the edge. This was too slow, too shallow, and way too early. But feeling Sanji watch him, feeling so incredibly aware of every noise he made, every turn of his head, every twitch of his thigh, and with the creeping realisation that each one was having an effect on Sanji, too, seeing him fidget and burn through his cigarette, he felt a different kind of warmth building up in his gut.

　　　“Oi, oi,” He grunted, and Sanji bristled, red-handed. “I was just kidding about you being a pervert, but are you for real?” Sanji forced himself back into poise.

　　　“Hey, I’m not the exhibitionist here,” But Zoro could hear the heat in his voice and he realised he had the upper hand. Sanji was the only one here with any dignity left to maintain, and if Zoro could push him, that would break.

　　　“You like what I’m exhibitioning?” Sanji’s eyes snapped for the first time from the toy in Zoro’s ass back up to his face, watching that familiar smile spreading across it as Zoro’s free hand came up to rest behind his head. Sanji’s eyes narrowed and Zoro could tell he was planning how to retaliate. Zoro pushed the toy just a bit further than the half-way he was permitted, waiting for Sanji to say something. Sanji’s eyes flicked down and back up.

　　　“How often did you do this?”

　　　Zoro had sped up a little, now, brushing the point that made his eyelids flutter without going so far as to distract him, seeing how much faster and deeper he could go before Sanji declared a foul.

　　　“Had to make it first.” He grunted. “After that? Every day.” Sanji didn’t let on if that surprised him, but it did seem to work for him. “I woulda been fucking you every day otherwise, after all,” Zoro continued, failing to bite back a moan as he pushed a bit too hard against that spot.

　　　“No deeper,” Sanji warned, cigarette lifted to his lips but his attention still fixed. “So you thought about me when you did this?”

　　　“Who else?” There was a laugh in Zoro’s tone, more snappy than sweet, but he still caught Sanji fumble with his cigarette. He always was a sucker for anything romantic. Sanji dropped his head to look down at the floor for the first time, a time out to collect himself, then met Zoro’s eyes purposefully before returning to watch the toy, taking a deep drag.

　　　“What was I doing?”

　　　Zoro faltered a bit at that. Sanji knew he wasn’t good with his words, so this put him back on the backfoot.

　　　“Fuckin’ me.”

　　　Sanji hummed a noseful of smoke in a kind of laugh.

　　　“Figures you’d have a shitty imagination, moss-head.”

　　　Sanji’s attention was fixed on the action, so Zoro picked a spot on the ceiling of the nest to focus on. It was easier if he didn’t look at him.

　　　“Depends on how I set up.” Sanj perked to listen. “If I did it sitting… Well, you saw at Fishman Island.” Another quiet, hummed laugh. Zoro focused on keeping his thrusts steady and his eyes on the wood gnarl he’d chosen. “If I was bent over, then I wasn’t thinking about what you were doing so much as what you were saying.”

　　　Sanji ashed his cigarette stub on his shoe without looking away.

　　　“Yeah?”

　　　“Yeah.” Zoro couldn’t help a small sigh. This still wasn’t deep or fast enough but somehow, it was getting him, the coil of heat in his stomach tightening. “You’d be mouthing off, usually, telling me how much I loved it. Like you didn’t.” He could feel the tension rolling off of Sanji, the way he gripped his hands as he hunched, watching him.

　　　“Go all the way in.”

　　　Zoro did, his hips arching a couple inches from being finally filled and from the way Sanji’s voice cracked when he’d said that, his free arm jerking from behind his head to clutch the floor by his side. Sanji’s tongue flicked to his lips nervously as Zoro started thrusting again, deeper, the entire toy buried inside him now. “And if you were like this?” From the corner of his eye Zoro saw Sanji make a sweeping gesture toward him on the floor, his hand shaking. Zoro kept working the toy.

　　　“You were over me,” He rasped, his throat dry. “You were at my neck, and your hands were…” His free hand twitched up to cup his own throat, then trail down his chest, his eyes closed now so he couldn’t see Sanji’s widen or his jaw clench. “You were touching me.” His hand slipped down further, skimming over his now-throbbing cock, timed with a harder thrust from the toy that made him hiss, his erection twitching up into his hand against his stomach.

　　　“Are you close?” Sanji’s voice was urgent.

　　　“Yeah,” Zoro’s was stunned.

　　　“Go faster.”

　　　Zoro screwed his face back up as he acquiesced, his free hand leaving his too-sensitive cock to flit over the rest of his body, cupping the groove of his thigh, his stomach, his chest, back up to his neck and his earrings, imagining the cook’s slender fingers on him instead. “You were always pressed up against me, saying things to me, and I swear I could feel how hot and heavy you were on me, but I couldn’t because you weren’t-” His voice cut and his eyes pried open as he pushed the toy inside him to the hilt, free hand grabbing into his hair as he hissed back down to his partner, “Sanji, please, don’t make me come without you again.”

　　　Sanji leapt from the bench and across the floor, throwing himself over Zoro to cover desperate kisses across his lips, his jaw, his throat, apologies and encouragement spilling over as he fumbled for Zoro’s cock but found he’d come as soon as Sanji’s mouth met his, hips pressed up to flatten their stomachs together, spilling into Sanji’s shirt and over his own chest as he pressed the toy as far as it would go and filling the nest with his cracked and mercied cry. Sanji barely took pause, feeling the wetness sticking around his hand and straddling Zoro’s stomach to thrust into that stickiness, grinding against his trousers he didn’t have the time or mind to remove, just captured by Zoro’s face gazing back up at him with hazy eyes and parted lips and a shaky hand on his thigh until he joined him, coming into his slacks with a shudder while collapsing back over Zoro, lazily kissing his cheeks and mouth and chin as they both shivered through the afterglow.

　　　Zoro winced as he retrieved the toy, once he’d regained enough strength, and tossed it to the side so he could hold Sanji more easily.

　　　“Holy shit,” He mumbled into Sanji’s ear. “That was the best sex we never had.”

　　　“God, fuck you,” Sanji moaned back, smacking a gutless fist onto Zoro’s shoulder. “It’s not fair you can do that to me without even touching me, asshole.” Zoro laughed through Sanji’s hair, but stilled, nose pressed to his crown.

　　　“You did it to me and you weren’t even there.”

　　　Sanji nestled in deeper, fist softening to trace the cords of Zoro’s tensed bicep.

　　　“I’m here now.” Zoro nodded, smiling as the scratchy blond hair tickled his chin. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

　　　“Better not.”

　　　They stayed like that a while longer, feeling the gentle, natural sway of the nest rocked by the winds above and sea below, Sanji stroking Zoro’s shoulder and Zoro buried in Sanji’s hair.

　　　Sanji turned his head to catch Zoro’s attention, his smile not entirely angelic.

　　　“Don’t you want to know what _I_ thought about?” He purred, deliberately dragging his gaze down from Zoro’s eyes to his lips and back up. Zoro regarded him for a few seconds before reaching over to the pile of discarded clothes and muslin wrapping, rummaging for a few seconds before finding a single piece of folded paper.

　　　“ _I want your hot, thick sword wrapped in my quivering sheath,_ ” He read from the letter.

　　　Sanji was almost successful in burning it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *exhibitioning (sic)
> 
> This is the last chapter, for now! I didn't want to end the fic on a downer, but the next story arc I'm skipping to will be (post) Whole Cake Island, so this is a bittersweet final chapter. I don't want to write their post-WCI reunion until Wano is mostly if not completely finished, though, because I want to be canon-compliant as far as possible.
> 
> Thank you for reading my first (published) fic! If you liked it, please consider leaving a comment or Kudos, because it really means a lot to me. Thank you so much!


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